On Wednesday 10th August, Natalie Shaw, Reverend Deeny and I flew to Adelaide for the 2016 Anglican Schools Commission Conference – ‘Rivers in the Desert’, where the theme for the conference was hope. When we landed, it appeared that the drizzly weather had followed us from Perth, but we were fortunate enough that come Thursday, the sun decided to shine for the remainder of our trip. On Thursday, Natalie and I were privileged enough to attend an Emerging Leaders Day. This began with all delegates travelling to a variety of schools within Adelaide and its surrounds to be shown the unique programs and techniques that these schools had to offer. I selected St Peter’s Girls’ School and was invited to explore their ‘Futures’ Program where all students in Years 7 and 8 are given a timetabled double period each week to enable them to undertake a project in a specific area of interest, ranging from Drama to Art to Cooking and more. A degree of freedom is given to the students – they are not given set tasks. Instead, they are responsible for deciding what task they will complete within their chosen area of interest which I found to be fascinating.
After our individual school visits, the delegates met at St Peter’s College (where Howard Florey, one of our own House Patrons, attended) and we were given an extensive tour of the Middle School. This was followed by a presentation by Mathew White on the topic of wellbeing in our classrooms. It focused on how to implement positive education at a whole school level - something so simple, yet so significant and truly the key to happy students. We were then given a tour of particular areas of the School, including the Gymnasium, the Chapel and the Art Department. Our tour guides were the School Captain and Vice-Captain – a prestigious position at Saints - where two Year 12 Prefects are chosen to return to school for ‘Year 13’ the following year. They do not attend classes but instead focus their time and efforts on leadership – something I’d never heard of before! We were given an insight into how this school operates as well as the history behind it.
Friday and Saturday were the two ‘official’ days of the Conference. There were five keynote speakers: Erica McWilliam, Dennis Edwards, Lt General David Morrison, Michelle Campbell and Angela Evans. Each of these five people were so passionate about their topic. Given that they only had one hour to present their speech as well as answer questions from the audience, they all did a magnificent job. We, as educators, were given such an extensive insight into a range of topics – the real challenges in requiring all students to think; the relationships between God and all living creatures, whether they be animals, plants or even microbes; being the best we can be in regards to cultural change and gender equality; the shocking truth that is our scarce water supply and the need for the community to understand and value this resource; and an insight into ‘Walk For Life’, an organisation that is hoping to improve the suffering and poverty associated with congenital clubfoot deformity for children in Bangladesh. As well as the above speakers, we were also captivated by the thoughts and opinions of Nakoma Sioux-Wilson, Jack Egan and the Right Reverend Christopher McLeod during a panel session titled, ‘Hope in Reconciliation’ where the very real issue of the lack of understanding and compassion for Aboriginal people was discussed.
We were then fortunate enough to attend a Eucharist service at St Peter’s Cathedral in North Adelaide. The exterior and interior of the church was as intricate and beautiful as the service itself – something that will not be forgotten any time soon. To conclude the conference, we attended dinner at the National Wine Centre where we were given the opportunity to collaborate our thoughts from the previous three days and converse with Teachers and Chaplains from all over Australia. The entire conference was a thought-provoking, inspiring and educational three days and I feel incredibly privileged to have been invited to attend.
Written by Kira Wright, Teacher