Rationale
Quakers Hill Public School prides itself on delivering outstanding education through best teaching practice through a better than 1:2 ratio. Technology is embedded throughout each and every classroom and e-learning is an integral part of all teaching and learning programs.
At Quakers Hill Public School we deliver outstanding educational outcomes through e-learning as it is vital in engaging our students and providing them with a stimulating environment in which to learn. Today's world is a digital world, changing rapidly, and we are committed to preparing all of our students for this world.
E-learning is the terminology we have chosen to represent our philosophy, because we are talking about more than technology and the use of computers and netbooks. We are also talking about the integration of iPads, iPods, game consoles, smart response systems, beebots, interactive whiteboards, video conferencing and so much more. How this 'e-learning' will look will be uniquely different from classroom to classroom and from stage to stage, but will be equally as effective, as important and as stimulating.
Transcript
00:02 [Music]
00:14 [Music]
00:19 my name is Chris Lambert I'm the deputy
00:21 principal at Quakers Hill public school
00:23 where you started the journey towards
00:25 future focused learning about four or
00:27 five years ago where we started to
00:29 immerse ourselves in professional
00:31 learning as a staff looking at the work
00:32 of dr. Stephen Harrell and and all those
00:35 ideas around future focused classrooms
00:37 and making the space adaptive and
00:39 flexible to the needs of 21st century
00:42 learners and the skills that they need
00:43 the reason that we did that was in
00:46 response to to need essentially the old
00:49 model of industrial style learning with
00:52 children sitting in rows facing the
00:54 board chalk and talk and and that style
00:56 of learning is an outdated model
00:59 teaching the children skills that are no
01:02 longer needed in the workforce moving
01:04 forward so we really need to create
01:05 adaptable flexible students you know
01:09 we've creative mindsets and in order to
01:11 do that we needed to change the way our
01:12 better god she worked and we needed a
01:14 space to match
01:16 [Music]
01:18 so this space here is one of our
01:20 kindergarten classrooms we have a few
01:24 different spaces through the school
01:26 where we open up the doors and have teen
01:28 teaching environments with two
01:29 classrooms paired together this is a
01:32 kindergarten space with two very young
01:34 and energetic and excited teachers who
01:36 have come to embrace the the idea of
01:38 future focused learning and future
01:40 focused learning practices and so what
01:43 we wanted to do here was to create a
01:44 space where we were able to set things
01:47 up so they were flexible and adaptable
01:48 but also so that the furniture had a
01:50 purpose and it wasn't just merely a
01:52 table for children to sit at and and
01:54 read and write and look up at the board
01:56 but rather a space where they could
01:58 create what they wanted and what they
02:02 needed to happen but also use the
02:03 furniture as a teaching tool we also
02:05 needed to recognize the fact that
02:07 students learn best when they're
02:09 comfortable and they're in an
02:10 environment they feel comfortable in and
02:12 yet traditionally we ask our children to
02:14 sit at the same table and sit there for
02:16 hours on end completing tasks and work
02:18 without ever really giving any thought
02:21 as to is that comfortable for every
02:22 child and so in here we wanted to create
02:24 different options for the children to
02:26 choose and where they wanted to sit so
02:28 they have the choice of sitting at a
02:30 table and sitting on an ottoman or
02:32 standing at a standing height desk there
02:34 are children who can see that or daniil
02:37 on the floor or sit on the floor lay on
02:39 the floor lay on Ottomans we have the
02:41 Jenga blocks which and we'll go anywhere
02:43 in the room and the children pick the
02:45 space they want to work on and work out
02:47 and put the blocks down and and the way
02:49 they go we are very much focused on
02:51 making sure that there's more than one
02:53 focal point in the room so it's not that
02:56 model of just everyone sitting facing
02:57 the front because if you're look in this
02:59 room there is no front there is no front
03:01 of the room and it changes all the time
03:02 based on the needs of the activity and
03:04 the best thing about this is that it's
03:06 light its movable so the children and
03:09 they're only five six-year-old children
03:11 can pick up each individual piece and
03:13 move it to a different section of the
03:14 room if that's what we want or if that's
03:17 what we need if that's what the lesson
03:18 requires and dictates
03:20 [Music]
03:24 one of the big changes that we've
03:26 noticed with furniture as a rule as its
03:28 evolved is that the fact that it needs
03:31 to become meaningful and purposeful has
03:35 become more of a forefront in in
03:37 designer's thoughts and northern ival
03:38 are definitely one of those companies
03:40 who are well ahead of the curve in that
03:42 regard all of the pieces in here are
03:44 very well thought out very well
03:46 constructed durable one and all of those
03:49 sorts of things but beyond that the
03:50 creativity behind the designs it's not
03:53 just what's a little fancy shape that we
03:55 can make this into it so let's make this
03:57 table into a shape that has meaning and
03:59 has relevance so that we can use it in a
04:02 practical sense and in a practical
04:04 environment in a lot of the other
04:05 classrooms where we have northern novel
04:07 furniture we've got tables that are flip
04:10 tables so it's not just your traditional
04:12 table they see that it's a ride on
04:14 surface they ride on it and then at any
04:16 point they can flip that table up and
04:17 all of a sudden it's a display board
04:19 that they can show to the rest of the
04:20 class like a traditional whiteboard but
04:22 functional and purposeful as a table as
04:24 well I guess the best thing about the
04:27 furniture aside from as I said the
04:28 quality and the durability of it for us
04:30 has been the fact that it is so
04:32 functional and purposeful in in a range