Will school leavers be ready for the next stage in life?
I WONDER what the Year 12 students around the state who will be finishing school this week will take with them from their schooling?
I wonder whether they feel ready for the next stage of their lives?
If they do, it will be because their schools have not only fulfilled their responsibility to give them a good academic education but have also given them an education for life.
The National Goals of Schooling has two main aspects. Goal one is that "Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence".
Goal two is that "all young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens".
To have provided an education for life to our students is an extremely challenging task given the pressures our society puts on young people and on our schools.
It requires schools to be focussed on more than testing and evaluating and filling up the brains of our young people. It means filling up their hearts and souls too.
To develop confidence in yourself, you need to have met someone who was confident in you and you also need to have had some success in some field.
To become a creative individual, you need someone who has nurtured your self-expression.
The people who have done these things are all the amazing teachers of the young people whom schools have released into the world this week.
