Letter from the Principal | March 2023

Dear Families,

Over 2022 and throughout Term 1 2023, we have been listening to the feedback from our families regarding our new curriculum, how it is delivered, and workloads for families and students. 

As of Term 2, Faith Christian School will adjust the following:

1. Our IT team is refining Learning@Faith to maximise its simplicity, giving students more time to do the schoolwork.

2. We will continue to maintain communications to families on the website, the weekly email newsletter, video updates by the Principal, and on Facebook.

3. In Years 10 – 12, we are refining our systems to ensure students have what they need and adjust time they spend on a subject.  

4. From Prep to Year 9, we are adjusting the workload and engagement to make the load more manageable for parents, particularly in the following areas: 

• Formative Assessment. Formative assessment is valuable and optional. Many Parent Educators are more than capable of judging their own children’s progress as they prepare for Summative assessment. Formative assessment has always been for parents to mark but it is now optional to parents whether they wish to submit and receive teacher feedback or not. Teacher feedback is always available.
• Summative Assessment. Comprehensive workbooks are a feature of Faith. The focus of each course is sending in Summative assessment so it can be marked, and an end of Semester report written, allowing teachers to understand student progress and needs.
• Online Lessons. We will continue to improve our online lesson offering to provide value to student learning. We want to emphasise that attending online lessons is not compulsory. Students can view recorded lessons later or be taught by their Parent Educators: whatever works best for your family.
• Learning Schedule & Workload. We are listening to parents to help adjust the learning schedule to suit the unique situation in each home. Please note that while we encourage full participation in all eight curriculum areas, some families may choose not to. This will be noted in the Semester Report as “N/A” for “No Assessment” to reflect your choice. One suggestion that has come through is that we use “N/R” (not rated) instead of “N/A” (no assessment). If you like this suggestion, email me at graeme.johnston@faith.qld.edu.au and we can use it on the Semester One report.

5. Parent Advisory Group. We are blessed to have many parents, some of whom are trained teachers, who understand the blessings and challenges of learning in their own home via Distance Education. The Principal is inviting them to meet with him monthly to receive and act on feedback to be implemented over the coming terms. If you have experience with developing curriculum for delivery in the home and you would like to be involved in this group, send an email to graeme.johnston@faith.qld.edu.au.

Outside Curriculum: 

As a school, our core activity is of course the curriculum; however, as a Christian Community we are so much more. Chapel and prayer life, regional workshops, sporting opportunities, teacher-led groups and more. Part of the task of the Parent Advisory Group will include refining co-curricular opportunities to meet the needs of the families in our school, as well as how they may look different in city or country areas.

Looking Ahead:

It is the responsibility of our school to provide every student with a full school program and encourage full participation, however, we also respect that the Parent is the first educator in their home and makes choices that benefit their children. No one knows your child better than you. Our school is more like a smorgasbord than a set menu and we will endeavour to make the experience as flexible as possible with the goal of a rich holistic educational experience for every Faith student.

Thank you for being a valued part of our Faith community. I look forward to hearing from you on how we can adjust what we do to meet both the requirements of our registration as a school and the needs of our families.

Proverbs 16:16 – “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!”

Yours in His Service,

Graeme Johnston

Principal

Faith Christian School