Think Global Act Local!

Good Day All!

What a wonderfully busy place Kunyung has been so far this year…actually just this week even!!!!! Middles swimming sessions, District swimming, Carnival preparations, Family Picnic and Open Classrooms Afternoon (Please go to the previous POST to see what Hamish (Year 6) has put together from the afternoon!), Sub School Assemblies, Fun Friday Fitness, Aerobics rehearsals, Mandarin classes,  Kunyung Singers and dancing, Units of Inquiry, classroom tasks and  activities that include- Juniors writing lists of ‘Healthy Tips’ and how they  can action these tips, Middles writing speeches on ‘What it means to be   human’, Seniors looking at Role Models from a variety of perspectives and our gorgeous Preps finding out about the ‘Roles and Responsibilities people have in a community!’…………the list goes on!! Yep…..written like I talk……fast and annoyingly non-stop!!!!!

I haven’t listed all of these things just to show you how good our school is (even though it is!) I have listed them because I have been doing some reflecting lately…………..reflecting on what experiences make a great human! How does it takes a community to raise a child? What is it that influences children to become great members of society? Yes…small  questions I know!!

This thinking was inspired last week when I went with Elaine to a PYP meeting in Berwick and we   listened to an unbelievably inspiring young man- MATTHEW ALBERT (A very young  practicing barrister who founded The Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) Program while he  was in undergraduate at Melbourne University.

As he was speaking I was, not only impressed by his intellect and ability to tell a fantastic story, not just impressed by   the fact that he attended an IB school as a child, not only by the fact that   he was taking such wonderful action in the community BUT by his ability to   reflect on all the things he had done in his life that had influenced him to be   such a perfect example of a great citizen! He reflected on so many ‘small’ things that made him the person he is………..little things that, as a school and as parents, we provide for our children every day…..they do matter…..children   do remember them…….they do have an impact on our children’s lives………………..

Matthew quoted his Year 5 teacher ‘Think Global, Act Local’ and can remember the impact this simple comment had on his life ‘From little things big things grow’ was another quote he remembered fondly!! You won’t necessarily find these quotes as answers on a NAPLAN test   but they had such a profound effect on his life!

So………………celebrate these simple things with   your children, encourage them to have a go at new things, talk to them about their learning and encourage them to reflect on their experiences!

We are trying that everyday with our students   at school………………………how many ‘Matthew Alberts’ are out there in our Kunyung Community, how many of our students can make a difference in the   world……….STACKS!!!!!!!

Please read more about Matthew and the SAIL Program below!

Matthew is a   sessional lecturer and practicing barrister. He was admitted to practice in   2005 after completing articles with the Victorian Government Solicitors’   Office. He worked in the Executive Branch of that Office as a solicitor until   2007 where he advised on tort, contract, administrative and constitutional   law.

Before coming to the   Bar, Matthew was the sole researcher to Geoffrey Robertson QC at Doughty   Street Chambers, London. Prior to that, he was the associate to Justice   Habersberger of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the legal researcher to the   Solicitor-General for Victoria (now Justice Tate of the Victorian Court of   Appeal).

Matthew has been on   the research staff of the law faculties of the University of Oxford, and of   New South Wales. He contributed to a number of leading international law   textbooks and reports, as well as co-authoring a legal guide for members of   the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal. In 2002, he was the Blake Dawson Pro  Bono Fellow for legal research.

In 2004, Matthew   worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kenya as a   legal protection officer. He has done consultancy work for the United   Nations, most recently on legal issues arising from environmental   displacement.

Matthew completed his   undergraduate study at the University of Melbourne and his postgraduate   degree in international refugee law at the University of Oxford, for which he   received the highest mark ever awarded for the course.