In working with young people, I often reflect on the journey of our girls as they learn and develop through their experiences at St Catherine’s School. The ongoing learning, reflection and development of their skills in a variety of experiential programs through the School’s co-curricular program provides the development of essential learning skills. In learning skills and developing knowledge, gaining feedback is an important component of this process. Feedback is what tells you what went wrong, or what went right, and obtaining feedback can be as simple as gaining information about how well you are performing each time you practice or apply a skill. The St Catherine’s co-curricular team has worked closely together over the last 12 weeks to develop and refine the Skills Feedback Loop.

Our Skills Feedback Loop comprises six stages:

• Acquire – The acquisition of new skills allows for growth and practice.
• Feedback – Gaining feedback from a coach or teacher to understand what you have done well and how you can improve on the skill being learned.
• Reflect – Reflection provides the opportunity to reflect on what you have done well and what you still need to do to achieve success.
• Feedback
• Improve – Continue to practise the skill to continue the learning process.
• Feedback

It is important to recognise these phases of learning when building skills and knowledge in one area and building on the skills and knowledge learned through a variety of contexts.

Podcasts: Student Reflections

During this term, I have had the privilege of interviewing students in Years 11 and 12 about their journey at St Catherine’s and their learning through the School’s co-curricular programs.

In this article, I am highlighting the journeys of Grace Lloyd (Year 12), 2019 Drama Captain; Gabriella Tymms (Year 12), 2019 Debating and Public Speaking Co-Captain; and Year 11 students, Chloe Rodgers and Isabella McDonald, who travelled to the United Kingdom on our Global Exchange program in Year 9.

Below are snapshots of the students’ reflections with links to the full podcasts of these conversations.

Grace Lloyd (Year 12), 2019 Drama Captain.

Grace Lloyd commenced at St Catherine’s School in the Early Learning Centre. She became involved in the School’s Performing Arts program in Year 2 through singing lessons. She fell in love with performing and pursued her passion by participating in the Years 5 and 6 Musical as well as the Years 7 and 8 Musical Seussical, playing the role of Mayzie. This experience provided Grace with the confidence to audition for the Years 9 to 12 Musical, Sweet Charity, where she was the only Year 9 student to participate. Grace says she learned a lot from those around her and that by stepping outside her comfort zone, she quickly learned to develop resilience and confidence in her ability.

In 2018, Grace participated in the Senior School Musical, Crazy For You. Through playing the role of Patsy, she learned that you may not always get what you want and to make the most of the situation. In 2019, being a part of the Senior Play, The Crucible, she played the role of Abigail, a character that was very different to any other that she has played before. Grace talks about the amount of work that was involved in playing Abigail. She looked at Abigail without any judgement, reflecting upon the life experience of Abigail and why she was the way she was which allowed Grace to play the complex role. Connecting with students from a variety of year levels through the Performing Arts program at St Catherine’s has taught Grace the skill of being inclusive of others.

Click on the link below to listen to the full interview with Grace.

Gabriella Tymms (Year 12), 2019 Debating and Public Speaking Co-Captain.

Gabriella Tymms joined the Debating program in Year 7 through classroom debates before participating in the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) Debating program. This allowed for her learning and understanding of Debating. Progressing through the DAV Debating program and debating against other schools, she learned to work with others and became more invested in the program by being a part of a team. Gabriella reflects on learning confidence, teamwork, collaboration, research skills and the ability to speak about a topic, with only one hour to research when a secret topic is involved. Gaining feedback from adjudicators and coaches assisted in the ongoing learning and improvement of her Debating skills and knowledge. The provision of feedback and feedforward by coaches assisted Gabriella in being guided in the journey of developing Debating knowledge. As a Debating mentor in Year 11, she enjoyed being invested and mentoring younger girls and seeing them improve and succeed.

Click on the link below to listen to the full interview with Gabriella.

Chloe Rodgers (Year 11).

Isabella McDonald (Year 11).

Year 11 students Chloe Rodgers and Isabella McDonald participated in the Year 9 Global Exchange Program attending St Catherine’s School Bramley, United Kingdom. Whilst on exchange, Isabella participated in school trips and visited the battle fields in France. She was later able to reflect on this experience in Year 11 during her study of History. During the exchange, Isabella was able to complete her Duke of Edinburgh hike, learning to navigate her way from one point to another. For Chloe, the exchange allowed her to learn more about herself and how to manage herself and her time with others. Chloe had to recalibrate and understand her own boundaries in being with other people and the importance of having some time on her own to reflect on the exchange experience. Socially, Chloe felt she was able to make new friends outside her exchange family life, allowing her to have some diversity in the friends she made. Isabella reflects on understanding “her place” in the connected global world that we live in. Chloe and Isabella listed coping skills, independence and staying open minded as significant skills they have learned through their exchange experience.

Click on the link below to listen to the full interview with Chloe and Isabella.

Each St Catherine’s student has her own journey and experience in our co-curricular programs. Each program provides the opportunity to learn new skills and gain confidence. As a School, we have prioritised five areas learned through our programs:

• Resilience and Persistence
• Confidence and Responsibility
• Cultural Learning and Leadership
• Communication and Collaboration
• Personal Endeavour and Aspiration.

These skills underpin all of our co-curricular programs from our Early Learning Centre to Year 12, allowing for the growth and development of each of our girls. I look forward to sharing the journeys of our students in the future and the philosophies of our programs in 2020.