It was wonderful to see all our students returning to school last week. The Year 11s, in particular, always surprise me each year, looking so grown up in their new senior uniforms. I’ve been getting around the school each day, and it is encouraging to see our students settling into their learning and enjoying the social opportunities of mixing with each other in class and during breaks.
As a piano teacher, if I teach my students the opening four notes of Chopin’s delightful Nocturne Op.55, No.1, they have learned something beautiful but limited. If I, however, show them how those notes form an F minor chord and how this chord comes up in not just classical music but in jazz, rock, pop and contemporary church music chord charts, they now have a skill that they can transfer to play an F minor whenever they see one, and I don’t even need to be around for them to know what to do. But … if I take it further and show them how all minor chords have the same basic shape but just start on different notes and that major chords can be made by just moving the middle note up a step, they can (with a bit of time and practice) learn to play thousands of pieces, play any piece in church from music or basic guitar charts, compose their own songs, and seamlessly move on to the extended forms of chords like 7th chords and suspended 4ths.
In that first step, we learnt a skill; in the second step, we learnt how the technique was useful in a broader context; but in that final step, the student was empowered to journey forth into a life of wonderful music experiences – they have started on the path of teaching themselves. I know which one I would want for my children.
This year, you will be hearing much about our new learning framework – Learning for Life. There are many facets to this program, but something at its very core is that students can learn not just content and skills but how to learn and that when a student has this ability, they are more motivated and more engaged in class, they achieve better academic outcomes, and they are able to continue in their learning and problem solving beyond their school years.
I am excited for 2024 as we explore and deepen our teaching and learning at Shire Christian.
Mr David Stonestreet
Principal
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