Action Required: Student Profiles

The culture of learning is positively affected when staff and students develop a community of learners. A community of learners can be defined as a group of people who share values and who actively engage in learning from one another—students from teachers, teachers from students, and students from students. They create an environment in which students and educators are actively constructing knowledge together. Learning communities are connected, cooperative, and supportive.

A positive learning community supports diverse student capabilities with all members participating at their level of expertise and comfort, and is characterized by feelings of safety among participants, as well as willingness to ask questions and make mistakes.

In order to further promote a sense of belonging among students and teachers at Princes Hill, we are introducing the development of student profiles. We are seeking to understand what has contributed to your child becoming the person your child is today?  

Each child from Prep to Year 5 is asked to write their autobiography with the support of their parents. Please ensure that the autobiographical information provided is suitable for sharing with the all the members of the neighbourhood. The teachers will read the published profiles to get to know the many aspects of their students and the students may share them with each other. The first step in helping students learn is to get a clear picture of who they are, both as a group and as individuals. The children will update this profile each year.

The children from Year 3 to Year 5 will upload the student profile template on to their laptops and are asked to complete their autobiographies with their families by the end of November. This activity will be included in your child’s learning agreement. An autobiography includes information such as name, when you were born, where were you born, your parents name, background, languages spoken at home, interests and hobbies, trips, special events, possible aspirations.

The Prep to Year 2 children are asked to write their autobiographies with their parents in a word document: font Tahoma, size 10, about half a page [up to 500 words]. Please email it to the school or your child’s home teacher by the end of November. It will be copied and pasted into the student profile template which has been especially designed. (The email addresses will be put up in the Neighbourhood)

Learning about the experiences your students bring to the neighbourhood is especially important. Instead of a passive transfer of knowledge from teacher to student; as educators we see learning as an active process. Students and staff are involved in a creative act, constructing meaning based on their own prior experiences and new information.

Rita Jokubaitis

Pathways and Transitions Leading Teacher