The release of ChatGPT towards the end of 2022 and all the AI possibilities that are still to come have ignited significant interest around the world, especially in the education sector. For those who are yet to encounter this, “ChatGPT is part of a new generation of AI systems that can converse, generate readable text on demand and even produce novel images and video based on what they’ve learned from a vast database of digital books, online writings and other media.” (O’Brien, 2023)

As educators we are considering seriously how to engage with this technology in our environment, understanding this is a singular tool in a suite of AI tools that may be of use to learners now and in their futures. The education sector is concerned that while the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success. I had the opportunity to engage last week in a Dialogic Learnings webinar on the use of AI tools in schools. What we all agree is while Chat GPT is cutting edge it is far from the only AI tool available. As educators we are positioned and ready to consider the ethics, advantages, disadvantages, freedoms and limitations of such technology in our environment.

This AI whilst it can respond in a ‘human like’ way isn’t human and is limited in its ability to distinguish nuances, sarcasm, irony and ambiguity. It can also generate discriminatory and biased text, so as we engage with it, we must understand what it offers can be inaccurate, unacceptable or even offensive. That being said, it does have appeal, generating well written content, it fine tunes written text while imitating human conversation.

Here at TLC, we do have some early adopters who are currently considering the benefits and shortcomings of this program along with other AI tools for use in the College environment. The Education Leadership Team under the direction of Mathew Stein have this on their agenda, as we prepare our College approach to engaging with AI as a pedagogical tool.

Lakes Learner | To your Faith add Knowledge, Curiosity, Character and Connection…

When was the last time you voluntarily gave up the right to your seat on the bus, your place in the café line, your access to Instagram, your lunch, your sleep, your down time, your holidays, your friends and or your self for the sake of some one else. When was the last time you looked in the mirror and said to yourself “ I will sacrifice my ……. ( put the “Thing” here) so that another human can do or be better today ? When was the last time you walked past a colleague, a classmate or a friend whom you could have assisted but didn’t? when was the last time you walked or tried to walk in the shoes of another? at Lent we are invited to “Give stuff up” to enter a deep immersion into remembering God and his great love.

Do not feel guilt right now, feel invited to a new awareness and potentially a new way of life, God invites us to a crazy new way to live by serving others and finding life itself. Lent whilst it calls our repentance (change direction) and Forgiveness (cancel debts) it also calls out a time for reflection and invitation to connect with the Creator and Redeemer in a rich and meaningful way. In fact, Jesus it could be said lived a “Lentin Life” giving up his life so that all may live.

C S Lewis said:

“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Sub­mit to death, death of your ambi­tions and favourite wish­es every day and death of your whole body in the end: sub­mit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eter­nal life. Keep back noth­ing. Noth­ing that you have not giv­en away will ever be real­ly yours. Noth­ing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for your­self, and you will find in the long run only hatred, lone­li­ness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him every­thing else thrown in.

During Lent Christians observe a time of giving “things” away, a time of practicing the deep teaching of Jesus to die to self-interest and be open to the interests of others. We are invited over the Lentin season to lean in with God on his agenda to love and serve the community we find ourselves in. This is all based on the fact that “God so loved the World that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16. Lent is a time to grow in the art of other centred living and dying to exclusive self-interest.

Why do we do what we do in Lent? Because we are invited to MORE by a loving God, we are invited to an ABUNDANCE of life by seeing the value of another and we are invited to CONNECTION with the source of life namely Christ to enjoy each and every day well after the Lentin season is done.

Lament and longing.

The Meaning of Ash Wednesday

According to some Historians the practice of Ash Wednesday began in the 11^th Century AD. This was preceded by Palm Sunday in which early Christians remembered Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19:28). As Jesus entered the city, those gathered placed palm leaves on the ground and proclaimed Jesus to be King. From time to time the Jewish people would call out a leader to overthrow Rome and bring Gods peace and rule to the Jewish nation. Palm Sunday was such a time. Of course Jesus knew his fate would be a cross and not a throne. Ash Wednesday was to follow. Early Christians would take the idea of the palm leaves laid the week before and burn them for Ash Wednesday. In preparation for remembering Jesus Death and Resurrection assembled believers would take the ash and place the sign of the cross on their forehead to identify with Jesus as a follower and a disciple as part of Easter worship.

The early Christians practiced Ash Wednesday to remember the story of Jesus, lament the way things are and prepare their hearts for communion, community and the future hope of Gods Kingdom to rule in love over the earth as it is in heaven. The early and current church on earth enter the story afresh of Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension with Ash Wednesday. This marks a season of lament and longing.

Lament is a great term it means: a passionate expression of grief or sorrow:

As humans in this imperfect world, we have much to lament. Our own failures, our losses and griefs, our international break downs and wars, famines and chaos. Closest to home we could lament the history of our nation with the past trauma and harm done to Aboriginal people. The list can be long of things to grieve personally and as a nation. Ash Wednesday is a call to lament and express the deeper feelings of loss and sorrow and direct it all to a Loving God who awaits our confession in order to heal. Jesus lamented many times. His lonely prayer at the end of his life is noteworthy as he lay bare dying on a Roman cross.

“Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani” “my God my God why have you forsaken me”.

This is a Lament of depth and power and a passionate cry of grief and sorrow for the world and for us.

Longing: having or showing a yearning desire:

Ash Wednesday is also a time of Longing, a desire for healing, for peace, for restoration and new life. In Jesus we meet all this in one scripture where he says” I have come that you may have new life and have this to the full”. Meaningful, purposeful, abundant life, right where we are as we are. The lament leads to life in the Christian faith. Death ends with resurrection, sorrow departs for joy and Gods offer of love is fulfilled in the promise of an eternity with him. Just brilliant.

Ash Wednesday is a day of sorrow, but it always leads to life and joy. The Christians of the 11^th century found a clue to the good life and at this time we remember the palms became ash and the ash became new life.

Blessings

Rev Tim McMenamin
Director of Mission

By Mark Pearce – Deputy Head of Primary | Learning Transformation

In March our Lakes Learners in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 along with thousands of their age related peers will participate in the annual National Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (NAPLAN). NAPLAN is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake and provides overall attainment data to assist educational policy and decision-making.

It is a ‘point in time’ data collection tool that provides information related to the literacy and numeracy skills students are learning as they progress through the school curriculum. Data gathered through the assessments can provide parents/carers with additional information related to how their child is progressing against national standards over time. NAPLAN is just one aspect of The Lakes’ assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace the ongoing formative and summative assessments made by teachers about student performance and progress.

NAPLAN results do not influence end of semester reports and do not identify the uniqueness of each individual, their talents, interests, sense of humour, kindness and how they are celebrated as members of our community.

The NAP - Home identifies how results can be used

• Students and parents/carers may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.
• Teachers use results to help identify students who need greater challenges or extra support.
• Schools use results to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.

• School systems use results to review the effectiveness of programs and support offered to schools.
• The community can see information about the performance of schools over time at My School.

It is with this in mind that we need to consider the ‘pressure’ that some members of our community may be feeling as the NAPLAN horizon draws closer. I could not agree more with the statement made by Michael Grose from parentingideas.com.au “The most resilient children and young people are those who rise to meet rather than retreat from the challenges presented to them. Perhaps it’s best to view the NAPLAN tests as good learning experiences rather than dreaded pressure tests.”

Many years of experience supporting students, families and Teachers across a range of settings, along with expert advice and ideas gathered from the National Assessment Program website, articles and opinion pieces all indicate that a positive mindset will support our young people approaching NAPLAN with a ‘can do’ attitude.

As parents and carers we can further support our Lakes Learners in a variety of ways.

• Sleep well, eat well: We all know we think better, feel better and can tackle most of what life throws at us when we have a healthy mind and body. Keeping regular bedtimes, reducing screen time before lights out and avoiding the ‘h-angry’ with a healthy diet and decent breakfast creates a successful foundation any day of the week.

• Keep things in perspective: Our young people make progress every day and our Teachers work hard to ensure that our curriculum is robust and focused on developing transferable lifelong skills. Skills that can be applied in different ways, at different times across a tremendous range of learning areas.

Try not to NAPLAN bigger than it needs to be, as it is just one form of assessment teachers and the school use, along with lots of other data to determine a students’ academic level. It is important your child understands their success is not determined by one test and that everyone’s skills, abilities, and talents are to be celebrated. If your young person isn’t worried…than you shouldn’t be either. Take your cue from them.

• Talk about it: Listen, acknowledge any concerns, and talk. It is important for educators and parents to acknowledge any stress, anxiety or other negative emotions that students might be feeling during these times. It is normal to experience these emotions. Being nervous is very normal, however; (see point 2) keep things in perspective. As we encourage in all learning activities, place your focus on effort rather than attainment. A 40/45 minute online assessment…for one period…maybe an easier hurdle to overcome if we take a deep breath and then reflect on all of the wonderful things that make school such good fun – friends, new ideas, learning and…break times.

Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN. At school we will ensure familiarisation and explanation of NAPLAN to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the tests. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) does not recommend excessive preparation for NAPLAN or the use of services by coaching providers. Families can view the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments at the NAP - Public demonstration site

For some of our families this will be your first NAPLAN rodeo, for others you will already be NAPLAN experts. Regardless of where you are on the journey a positive, caring attitude will support your young person in navigating NAPLAN and carrying on.

References:

• 5 tips to help you during NAPLAN — The Flourish Movement™
•  NAP - For parents and carers
• What parents should and shouldn't say when talking to their child about NAPLAN results (theconversation.com)
• Helping_students_get_ready_for_the_NAPLAN_tests_INSIGHTS (eq.edu.au)
• Helping your child through NAPLAN - Doctor, Medical Centre In Brisbane City | Family Doctors Plus

Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families How to Help when School Sucks - Happy Families

“I don’t want to go to school today.”

“My tummy hurts.”

“School is boring!”

“I have a headache.”

“They tease me about how I look.”

“I don’t need to know this stuff, I’m going to be a YouTuber/Twitch Streamer.”

“I already know everything.”

A small percentage of children really, really like school. The rest experience it with everything ranging from mild indifference to deep disdain. And some kids are, frankly, terrified of it.

Some reasons for feeling like school “sux” are more valid than others. We empathise with the tween being teased for their new glasses/braces combo. It’s harder to hold back the chuckles while listening to a pre-schooler say they “know everything” already.

Compulsory schooling is only 150 years old in Australia. The Victorian Education Act of 1872 was the first of its kind in the world, and mandated that all children in the state were required to attend school from the age of 6-15. (The schools were a little loose on this. My grandmother was born in the 1920s and left school at age 12.)

Today, certificates and awards are given for 100% attendance, and the pressure is on our kids to never miss a day of school, even for major holidays or cultural opportunities. Governments promote slogans declaring that “every day counts” and point to data to prove it. Similarly, for many working parents, the pressure is on to get out kids to school no matter their feelings about it. Sick leave is limited. Work commitments prevail.

However, across Australia the average attendance rate at school is 93%. Kids miss school and still graduate!

(I shouldn’t be so glib… it’s true that school and education are a privilege. And higher attendance is typically associated with better educational outcomes overall. My suspicion is that if a child is missing school a lot, their grades will be low but it’s probably got as much to do with other factors in their life as it has with school absence. Family dysfunction, deviant friends, mental health challenges, and similar difficulties are likely at the root of their school failures.)

But there are legitimate reasons that school can be a torrid experience for our children. Pushing them out the door and telling them to “toughen up, princess” is often not going to be helpful.

What if every day is a battle to get them out the door? What if school really, really, really sux?

Please click here to read the full article.

Year 6 recently welcomed the team from MindSET-do into their classrooms for a series of STEM lessons, involving electrical circuits and coding. After learning how to wire a circuit board to make LED lights illuminate, our students then went a step further and learnt how to use the Arduino boards to program the lights to flash at various intervals. The ultimate challenge was writing a program that made a series of lights flash in time to a piece of music. The tasks were both challenging and engaging, allowing much time to tinker, debug, problem solve and collaborate. The Year 6s were fully immersed in this project and gained many valuable skills through hands-on learning. We have our eyes peeled for our next coding project.

Futsal – BOSL 2023:

The intermediate boys kicked off the 2023 BOSL Futsal season with a bang! Whilst the win in early February was by forfeit as the opposition only had two players, we loaned them three players to make a game - and what a great game it was. Our TLC side won 9-3. The eight players who represented TLC did exceptionally well, showing great sportsmanship and skill. Jatin S was the top scorer with 4 goals, Levi L kept goal very well and Joshua E came away with the three points for POM. Thanks to Alex C who stepped up from the Junior team for the week.

Back Row L-R: Jatin S, Jordan W, Joshua E, James R
Front Row L-R: Esau B, Alex C, Levi L, Isaac F

NOOSA FILM ACADEMY PRODUCTION

Year 8 Media Arts

Within The Arts @TLC, we are offered many amazing opportunities both in the classroom and out of the classroom: from Movie World, Movies at Event Cinemas, Live Drama, Dance and Music performances, to seeing Artworks at GOMA, Gold Coast and around the community for Visual Arts as well as real life experiences in classrooms with many artists.

As an introduction to the two Media Arts classes this semester, Year 8 Media Arts students participated in a whole day workshop with the Noosa Film Academy, which has become an annual incursion for Arts students at the College for the last six years.

Learning from professionals to develop and embellish a storyline, film and learning quick editing skills, each year Greg Huglin, a Golden Globe Cinematographer recipient, and his wife Andrea, allow us first-hand experience in front and behind the camera.

Each year the storylines differ, and this year each class was presented with a treasure box full of stories that they were asked to create, storyboard then improvise in small groups, their own original scenes. Each class had their own scheduled day and produced two separate unique videos on the same theme, titled ‘The Choice’.

For these young filmmakers, it was a day full of learning, participating not only in acting on screen but also in the filming and editing process. They were challenged and asked to continually make inclusive decisions and choices, ensuring we unpacked and embedded our 2023 vision…. Everybody, always.

Below are reflections the Year 8 students provided to the Noosa Film Academy that support the worth of engaging Arts students to real life experiences with professionals in the field, ensuring we are contributing to their future ready pathways:

I liked it when we were getting filmed the most. This is because I love the acting. I found the continuity very useful because it made the transitions look clean and that is very important.

It showed me how many shots you need and you need a lot of continuity. The best part was being in a good shot.

I loved the workshop. I learned what cameras they use and how important it is to make sure everything is perfect.

I liked the hands-on activities where everyone was involved at all times and everyone was doing a job behind the scenes. Andrea and Greg were very welcoming and pushed me out of my comfort zone which made it an overall awesome time.

Overall, the whole day was amazing and I am sure everyone loved every part of it. I think the day was such a good experience! Everyone worked well together and it was amazing. Thank you from TLC.

BROADCAST NEWS

Year 8 Drama

Social Media has a dramatic impact on teenagers lives but where did it all begin? For the first unit in Year 8 Drama, students are learning about the varying types of Broadcast News, the roles and structure of how audiences can be informed and/or manipulated. This semester, in small groups, they will create their own ‘NEWS production’ taking on specific roles such as Anchors, Reporters, Sports commentators and even Weather presenters.

The production will be around … 'Everybody, always' where they will create their own adverts, make up their own stories or use current stories to engage an audience for 15 minutes utilising their knowledge of the elements of Drama.

This is such an exciting unit for our young learners, allowing them to ‘step back in time’ and as you can imagine, this will take many weeks to create and refine and we cannot wait to see their productions come alive in June.

SHARING SHAKESPEARE

Year 10 Drama

Shakespeare, sonnets, sword fighting, scripts and sharing the love of the Elizabethan Era, our Year 10 Drama students are engaged in a term of Shakespeare and were treated with a Shakespearean workshop during one of their double lessons, exploring the Elizabethan language, developing relevant skills and techniques for their upcoming Performance Task.

The dynamic session was led by members of the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble who created an engaging experience where students deepened their understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works and they became connected with not only imagery but also the Iambic Pentameter rhythm of delivery.

The workshop provided valuable insights into the human condition and provided opportunities to fill their ‘Shakespearean technique tool kit.’ Thank you to the team at Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble for such an engaging and lively session with Year 10 Drama who have now taken their learnings into their Romeo & Juliet Performance Task.