Girls Grammar is commencing the transition from Version 8.4 to Version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum. This will commence for English and Mathematics for Prep to Year 10 in 2024. As part of our staff planning and professional learning day on Monday, our teachers worked together reviewing the upcoming changes. One of the issues we addressed was the reasoning behind the change. I was surprised to be reminded that the Australian Curriculum was introduced to Queensland over 11 years ago. It really does not seem that long. We looked at how society in general has changed in that time. We considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the way we teach, and the way students learn. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on education is growing exponentially. Awareness around mental health and wellbeing is also continuing to expand. All of these contribute to a need for an updated curriculum. Quite simply, our world has changed, and the curriculum needs to be reflective of where we are now.
What came out of collegial discussions is that we want to cultivate a school wide environment where girls feel safe to be themselves and take appropriate academic risks. In fact, this forms an explicit part of our Strategic Directions, 2022-2024. We want your daughters to feel comfortable in knowing that making mistakes is not only normal, but a required part of the learning process. To learn, girls need to be challenged to work outside of what they already know or can do. They need to be comfortable being uncomfortable. This way of thinking is all about growth mindset where girls believe their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. It comes as no surprise that students with a growth mindset tend to academically outgrow peers with a fixed mindset. Girls need to believe they can be better and then do the hard work of studying to be better. At Girls Grammar, students are more likely to take healthy academic risks, learn through their mistakes, and build resilience. This is what we want for your daughters.
We teach your daughters to think “even though I’m not able to do it yet, I’ll tackle the challenge.” The result will be that our girls will go into the world with greater confidence in their academic skills knowing goals are attainable.
Dr John Fry
Deputy Principal - Studies
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