The Principal's Pen
Living Faith has a rigorous and multi-layered enrolment process. Why? Living Faith offers an educational product that aims to close the gap...
See MoreEducating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. Aristotle Parents have their preferred method for nurturing good behaviour...
See MoreConnectedness is a fundamental psychological human need. Just as food, water and shelter are needed for physical survival, connectedness is a basic...
See MoreOur generation knows so much. Knowledge is at our fingertips. But knowing too much can have its drawbacks because it opens our...
See MoreIn our Western society, we can be quick to protect our children from struggles. It’s not easy to see children grapple...
See MoreDaydreaming is how we access our big-picture state of mind. - Amy Fries Studies show that letting your mind wander can increase...
See MoreWhat are the essential skills students must develop, in order to succeed in later life? Whilst skills in the three R’s ...
See MoreIn the third year of the pandemic, what needs to be prioritised at school? Parents, carers and educators have been scrambling as...
See MoreOur theme for the year ahead is Be Still. What does Be Still mean to you? In Exodus, Moses writes ‘The Lord...
See MoreWhat controls you? Is it the compulsion to have the latest gadgets and accessories? Is it the obligation to return every phone...
See MoreMahatma Gandhi once said, ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.’ Human beings are...
See MoreLiving Faith invests a lot of energy ensuring students are engaged with their learning. We collect data on student engagement and use...
See MoreHave you ever told your child that they can’t have an unhealthy treat, only to find they become obsessed with the...
See MoreActive learning involves students engaging in the learning process experientially. In an active learning environment, students are afforded a significant level of...
See MoreWe often underestimate the importance of rest. Play breaks, unstructured afternoons and evenings, relaxing weekends and friend-oriented school holidays are essential for...
See More‘Parenting’ is a relatively new concept. It’s an idea that is believed to have originated in the 1970’s and, since that...
See MoreAccording to Maggie Dent (author, educator, and parenting and resilience specialist), resilience refers to one’s ability to manage one’s life...
See MoreWell done! Fantastic! Excellent effort! We have all heard these superlatives many times before, and we are all probably responsible for commending...
See MoreFor as long as I can remember, when we socialise with different groups of people from various age groups, at one point...
See MoreWhere doubt exists, faith does not. And without faith, the abundant blessings of God become hard to see and grasp. God doesnâ€...
See MoreI have no special talent, I am only passionately curious. Albert Einstein What is curiosity? The Oxford Dictionary defines it as, ‘A...
See MoreIt’s not happy people who are grateful; it’s grateful people who are happy. Unknown Gratitude is increasingly recognised by neuroscientists,...
See MoreIn Living Faith’s Beliefs about Learning, we say that, amongst other things, we strive for our students to be effective collaborators....
See MoreWhat do you want most for your child’s future? If you answered ‘happiness’, you are not alone. It would be hard...
See MoreIt’s standard practice for our teachers to begin a unit of work by establishing students’ existing knowledge and understanding. This enables...
See MoreToday’s society places a lot of pressure on people to ‘get things right’. There are times when it’s good to...
See MoreMuch has been written over the past 12 months about the uncertainty that has been brought about by the pandemic, as if uncertainty...
See MoreWhat controls you? Is it the compulsion to have the latest gadgets and accessories? Is it the obligation to return every phone...
See MoreAt the start of the year when we announced that 2020 was the year to leap out in faith, we never could’ve...
See MoreAfter recommending it to you at Connect in January, I recently re-read Daniel Pink’s bestseller, Drive. This week, I take the...
See MoreMark McCrindle is a social researcher and influential thought leader. He and his team recently released their The Future of Education 2020 report,...
See MoreA question I was often asked as a child is, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Were you...
See MoreFrom minor annoyances to major disasters, our bias towards a specific episode can change over time. Psychology research suggests that our short-term...
See MoreDid you know? We have a Sustainability Team populated by Year 6 students. The Sustainability Team presented a short video at last weekâ€...
See MoreI woke on Sunday morning to the unexpected news that Sir Ken Robinson had passed away. Ken was an influencer on the...
See MoreCan you recall the Connect parent session in January? We looked at Daniel Pink’s research* in relation to motivation, and talked...
See MoreIt has long been acknowledged that intelligence and conscientiousness are vital factors in students’ academic success. But are they the only factors?...
See MoreThis year the vast majority of our students participated in Living Faith Online in the family home for a period of time....
See MorePerfection is a dangerous concept to aim for or to claim. Firstly, perfection puts a ceiling on things. It suggests we reach...
See MoreIncreasingly, we are asked for recommendations for go-to books in relation to parenting and education. And so, here it is: Living Faithâ€...
See MoreGod made today. Today is an incredibly precious gift that we can open with enthusiasm and optimism. Let’s not waste a...
See MoreWalt Whitman said, ‘Be curious, not judgemental.’ A few generations later, Arnold Edinborough wrote, ‘Curiosity is the very basis of education and...
See MoreLiving Faith adopts the philosophy that student learning can only take place to its full potential when students are engaged. This concept...
See MoreYour child talks about feedforward. Our teachers habitually reference feedforward. If you’ve been a part of the Living Faith community for...
See MoreIt’s not uncommon for parents and carers to ask what they can do at home to support classroom learning. This is...
See MoreMuch has been written about the so-called empathy crisis. Many believe that our children are growing up to be less caring and...
See MoreThe Reggio Emilia approach to education refers to the classroom (learning environment) as the ‘third teacher’. Montessori schools adopt a similar philosophy....
See MoreThere are many memes doing the rounds on social media about leaping out in faith. Have you seen the one with the...
See MoreOur busy society tends to dismiss play as a nonsensical waste of time. In our quest for unmatched intelligence and our desire...
See MoreIn their highly acclaimed book The Self-Driven Child, authors Stixrud and Johnson make the connection between the growing rates of anxiety and...
See MoreLife is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. John Lennon What’s the next big thing for...
See MoreA study released by Harvard University last month found that, while students felt they learned more in a traditional learning environment, they...
See MoreThe team from Everything Outside worked swiftly and meticulously over the term break, and the opening of our new adventure playground is...
See MoreAn example of a school subject that may be considered to be non-academic, but is essential in providing a well-rounded education, is...
See MoreLiving Faith’s approach to education is founded on our beliefs about learning, which draw upon significant research in a range of...
See MoreIn our Western society we can be quick to protect our children from struggles. It’s not easy to see children grapple...
See MoreI regularly field questions from parents about whether Living Faith will extend into a secondary college (P-12) model. The question has been...
See MoreChange is all around us. We live in a world where the rate of change is increasing exponentially. Education is certainly not...
See MoreIf you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results. Jack Dixon We often...
See MoreConnectedness is a fundamental psychological human need. Just as food, water and shelter are needed for physical survival, connectedness is a basic...
See MoreI’m drawn to this quote by Douglas Adams: ‘I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions...
See MoreHave you ever, in the moment, tried desperately and intentionally to recall a word from your memory bank – a person’s name,...
See MoreOne of the questions I’m often asked when talking with parents during the enrolment process is, ‘How do Living Faith students...
See MoreDavid Geurin is a US educationalist, father of four, principal, and author of Future Driven. He writes, ‘Learning should involve consuming AND...
See MoreEducating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. - Aristotle A proactive approach to fostering healthy and mature...
See MoreDangling a carrot in front of a donkey serves a purpose in the short-term, but is unlikely to create in the donkey...
See MoreSometimes our best intentions lead us to do more, when what’s actually needed is less. Our teachers went in search of...
See MoreOn the surface, rules serve a community well. They exist to promote harmony and maintain safety. It can be so easy to...
See MoreWith school holidays right on our doorstep, more than ever it’s time to let play happen. It’s well documented that...
See MoreAsking all 6th-graders to master the same concept at the same time is like asking all 35-year-olds to wear the same sized...
See MoreHave you ever stopped to think about how formal education was established? And why learning was broken into subjects? And why, over...
See MoreWhat constitutes student achievement? In which fields do we apply the term student achievement? Is it a term that refers to academia?...
See MoreA question I was often asked as a child is, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Were you...
See MoreA well-rounded education requires us to tap into various parts of a child’s brain in order to challenge, stretch and extend....
See MoreI’m not a fan of the word teacher in the primary school setting. Firstly, it implies that a person is the...
See MoreIn Living Faith’s ‘Beliefs about Learning’ we say that, amongst other things, we strive for our students to be effective collaborators....
See MoreOur biannual Exhibition Evenings showcase the culmination of a semester’s Project-Based Learning (PBL). But have you ever stopped to think about...
See MoreYour child talks about feedforward. Some parents read about their child’s ability to respond to feedforward in last semester’s report...
See MoreAt the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this year, cofounder or Alibaba Group, Jack Ma shared his story of rejection,...
See MoreWhat do you want most for your child’s future? If you answered ‘happiness’, you are not alone. It would be hard...
See MoreThe children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place...
See MoreSchools were widely established in the UK, USA and Australia in the 19th century. Schools were designed for the industrial era and...
See MoreAt the start of the year I drew attention to the term ‘growth mindset’ and wrote about how our teachers are starting...
See MoreParents are the first and primary educators of children. Parents enter a partnership with schools to complement the informal education that takes...
See MoreChildren need more sleep than adults to support their rapid mental and physical development. Further, a good night’s sleep is essential...
See MoreThe introduction of Daily 5 to our curriculum repertoire and especially the concept of ‘good fit’ books has dramatically increased our students’ love...
See MoreLiving Faith invests a lot of energy in student engagement. We collect data on student engagement and use this data to further...
See MoreYou can expect to regularly hear the term ‘growth mindset’ as 2018 unfolds. Please allow me to explain. In September last year, together...
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