Category Archives: Community

Songs can hold our memories!

Posted on May 23, 2017 by mwalker

Certain songs or voices can bring many memories flooding back to us. It’s 1970 and the happy and even melancholic memories flood back to me when I hear Simon and Garfunkel sing their classics. Its been over 45 years since … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, history, politics, Video Clips | Leave a comment

Politics aside we need some truths to accept the challenges we face as a nation. That’s the election message we are sending!

Posted on July 5, 2016 by mwalker

Well its election time here in Australia and we may have a tie. I don’t normally stray into politics but the situation calls for some commentary. For my overseas readers we have 3 levels of government (Federal, States and local … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Leadership, politics, Teaching, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Anzac Day Service at School: Lest we forget.

Posted on May 5, 2015 by mwalker

Recently our year 3 and 4 students led the school in the annual Anzac Day commemoration service. The service which dates back 100 years is to acknowledge those men and women who served in our armed services in conflicts and … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, curriculum, school | 1 Comment

An Indigenous Experience!

Posted on December 7, 2014 by mwalker

Last month we had a visit from some students who live in a remote indigenous community in Western Australia. The visit was organised by one of our former teachers, Nicole. The students were a little overawed initially by the size … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, school | 1 Comment

Eldership: Is this self conceit by a few or are we in education constantly losing this to retirement?

Posted on June 16, 2014 by mwalker

This post is a little introspective so I apologize in advance if the topic is not of interest. Last week was a little strange for me and it started with my regular Monday night viewing of the ABC’s show Q&A. … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Leadership, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The case for risky play in schools is building. Does short term pain (injuries or complaints) alleviate long term mental health issues – you be the judge!

Posted on April 19, 2014 by mwalker

I’ve come to this topic of “play” from several different experiences: I remember David Rease from Harvard on his first visit to our school standing in our school grounds during recess utterly amazed at children playing with minimal supervision (we … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, play, school | 1 Comment

Stop bashing public education for the tsunami effect will be big and long lasting.

Posted on April 18, 2014 by mwalker

I’m indebted to Greg Whitby for provoking me to write this post when he wrote on a quality education for all. Greg, I think was stirred by Prof Dinham when he recently wrote in the Age newspaper about what he perceived … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Community, Instruction, Leadership, teacher efficacy, Teaching, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

A shock – bullying too close to home!

Posted on March 12, 2013 by mwalker

Last night I was shown a clip of Australia’s number 1 cyber bully, Tristan Barker. This story featured heavily in the New Zealand press where he is currently living with his father. I suppose what brought this to home was … Continue reading →

Posted in coaching, Community, Video Clips | 3 Comments

What’s a school’s role in dealing with a “boozy” culture?

Posted on July 1, 2012 by mwalker

Recent articles in the press (The Age), in Britain and in New York all point to community problems around the control and effects of drinking – particularly binge drinking. Over the past 12 months we as a school council have … Continue reading →

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Community Project – a school orchard

Posted on April 5, 2012 by mwalker

Last month my school community led by a dedicated group of parents came together to construct a school orchard. This project has been in the planning phase for over 12 months as the committee rasied funds, involved some university students in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, construction, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Building Classroom Learning Communities

Posted on March 4, 2012 by mwalker

  One of last week’s walk-through foci was on classroom learning communities. These are some of the images I captured on the walk-through. At the start of each school year we as a staff and teachers in all classrooms expect to build … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborative Communities, Community, Instruction, school, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Implications of the “still face” experiment

Posted on January 26, 2011 by mwalker

Thanks to John Connell for this clip which I think has wider implications for all those working with our youth – not just parents with babies. I think this experiment along with a few others like the little Albert Experiment … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, parenting, school, Teaching, Uncategorized, Video Clips | Leave a comment

Floods in Queensland and Victoria

Posted on January 25, 2011 by mwalker

For the past few weeks we have been witnessing the most devastating floods in Australian history. The areas most affected are in Queensland and more recently in Victoria. The newspapers have been running special reports each day for the past 3 weeks and the … Continue reading →

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