Leading Learning at Barker

It is an exciting time to be a student or a teacher at Barker College.

While the world grapples with political and technological upheavals, it has never been so important to secure a strong and broad education. The brilliance of our Barker learning journey is that we value our tradition at the same time as we have vision and energy for reform.

Committed to bringing excellence to teaching and learning, the new Learning Team is excited about the year ahead. To prepare for this we have reviewed the valuable feedback given by parents in the MMG survey, consulted our own academic Department Heads and Pastoral Heads of House to review our learning culture. Under our banner of bringing both the academic and the care strands together our three focus areas for 2023 are: Challenge, Care and Connection.

Facing challenges speeds up learning. Our students understand well the need for training, planning and tenacity in their co-curricular pursuits. We encourage our students to bring these experiences to mind when they are facing challenges in the academic realm. Angela Duckworth, in her book “Grit”, explains that working in a space where challenge exceeds skill will bring rewards.

Academic Care brings together excellence in both knowledge and wellbeing for the best outcomes for our students. Our diverse learning programs are underpinned by a web of pastoral networks and supported by staff who are both proactive and responsive. We seek to provide learning that is tailored to the needs of our students and share scaffolds for assistance or more demanding tasks for extension as needed.

Connection is our third focus area, and this is how we bring challenge and care together. Being connected involves understanding, effective communication and great teamwork. We hope that we can continue to strengthen the links between school and home and invite feedback from students and parents throughout the year. Collaboration is key to innovation.

At the beginning of 2023, we launched our new Learning team, to bring this collaboration to life. We want our strategies and programs to consolidate excellence in learning across the Middle and Senior Schools. In building the team we spent time reviewing our roles, calibrating them to the emerging needs of students and staff and devising ways to better work together. The Learning team will help deliver the strategic imperatives of the School, whilst providing the structures and protocols to deliver programs and initiatives. The team will support our very talented Heads of Departments in engaging our students in subjects that interest and extend them.

Some of the areas of expertise in the team include devising curriculum strategy, leading digital innovation, using data and feedback for improvement, providing professional learning, valuing research and supporting individual learning needs.

Our Learning team will continue to connect with staff, students, and parents to find ways to better plan, deliver and communicate our learning programs. We understand the importance of partnerships; and know that professional generosity is a hallmark of Barker. We are excited about the possibilities for building challenge and care in the learning space and look forward to the year ahead.

Dr Julie Wilson Reynolds Deputy Head Academic Care