The International Baccalaureate (IB) develops lifelong learners who thrive and make a difference and Annesley is proud to be a well-established and highly regarded IB School. As you’ll note in this newsletter, Annesley has recently completed our intensive external review, the IB Evaluation Visit. The evaluation process occurs every 5 years and is a ‘deep dive’ into all elements of our School, facilitated by two experienced educational leaders from the Asia Pacific region. In the coming weeks we will share in detail Annesley’s conclusive and glowing school-wide success achieved during this IB Evaluation Visit. The reason I reference the IB is that I am such a passionate advocate for learning that is adventurous, empowers children to ‘have a say’, develops meaningful skills in meaningful ways, and creates a space for students to develop a deep understandings of themselves and the communities they live in. I want to see our children using these skills, combined with their deep understanding of values and character, to make a positive contribution to and difference in the world. This, in fact, is at the very heart of the IB’s approach to learning and there are over 5,000 IB schools globally advocating for and delivering such an approach.

One of the great elements of the IB approach to learning is the regular and well-planned inclusions of ‘provocations’ in learning. A provocation is a planned moment in time provided to truly inspire, deeply engage, and provoke rich questioning and explorative learning. Get the provocations right and it leads to deep, reflective and meaningful learning. Provocations happen on a regular basis at Annesley and as the leader of this community, let me say, I love them.

Annesley’s Year 4 students commenced this Term with a brilliant provocation linked to their meaningful Scientific study of forces (push, pull, etc.). Like so many parents and caregivers in SA, Naomi and I have been balancing our work commitments and supporting Distance Learning with our own children. A special Distance Learning moment for us was when our daughter in Year 4 was truly glued to her iPad, mesmerised by a clip her teachers had shared with her via MS Teams. All I could hear from her device was banging, extended pauses, clinks, scratches, clonks, dongs and her occasional ‘wow, ahhhhhh, woooooow.’ I don’t think she blinked during what turned out to be a Year 4 provocation. The provocation was facilitated by the YouTube video called ‘The Lemonade Machine’ created by Sprice Machines…check it out below. I have watched it countless times and am still stunned in amazement!

I am grateful that Naomi and I are able to provide our children with a quality IB education here at Annesley. We have 4 children and our oldest three are Annesley students. Our daughters are in Year 2 and Year 4, we have a son in the ELC and our youngest Joey, well… he thinks he runs the school. The rich learning provocations they are exposed to and engage with enable them to explore the world, have a high level of wonder, be captivated and inspired by the world around them. When a teacher gets a provocation ‘right,’ the academic skill development that follows is contextual and meaningful and student engagement high.

Luke Ritchie
Principal