BELONGING: Experiencing belonging – knowing where and with whom you belong – is integral to human existence. Children belong first to a family, a cultural group, a neighbourhood and then as young adults to their wider community, which in our case is the ASMS.
Our students’ sense of belonging relates to their interdependence with staff and other students and their understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation. Many students say that the learning culture and sense of belonging is the most important part of their experience at the ASMS and sometimes the ASMS is the first time they have felt they belong in a school setting.
To benefit from the ASMS experience students need to fully engage with what is on offer and this includes attending all lessons possible, actively engaging with their learning and developing their emerging autonomy and resilience to ask for support when needed.
We appreciate the partnership we have with students and their families and value a consistent approach to develop students’ belonging; we will be in contact with families when students need additional support however please reach out to us through the Learning Studies teachers if further support is needed.
Next week we will host the 18th Australian Science and Mathematics School International Science Fair, of note is our welcome back to our overseas, online, interstate and state visitors from Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Thailand, and Canada. The theme of this year’s event is – What can we learn from the past to change the future?
Looking to the past allows us to reflect, critique and evaluate and plan for preferred futures; I look forward to sharing the results of the event in our next newsletter.
Our Year 12 students are now nearing the end of their schooling, next week they have the opportunity to practice sitting exams in preparation for the end of year assessment process. Teachers and students will use this experience to determine strategies that will support each student to do their very best in what remains of their final year of schooling.
Kylie Eggers, Principal