Is it Time?

This post is written retrospectively. When reading through my posts, I found this draft blog from October 2019 that was merely a title - "Is it time?". Now it is time to fill in the blanks.

At the end of 2019, I quit my job as Head of Middle School at Riverside Christian College and moved to the Gold Coast to return to the classroom as a member of the Year 6 teaching team in a brand new Middle School Learning Community. I just knew it was time for a change. Whilst I loved my 8 years at Riverside, my leadership role did not bring me the same joy that I felt as a classroom teacher, and I wanted that back.

I was excited but terrified at the same time, wondering whether I would remember how to 'teach', questioning whether I would still be able to make positive connections with the kids, and worrying if I still had the ability to make learning fun. I really wanted to get my mojo back.

My new school, Hillcrest Christian College, enabled me to put so much of my passion into practice by providing me with an agile learning space (where 10 classes of Years 5 & 6 occupied the top floor of a converted multi-level carpark), progressive pedagogical expectations, innovative curriculum and an amazing team of talented, collaborative, dedicated and supportive teachers.

I'm not going to lie - it was exhausting and challenging, but it was also exciting being in an environment where we were encouraged to try new things and make mistakes. We experimented with a variety of teacher combinations, timetable changes, student groupings, design-centred learning and teaching pedagogies. We made it work because we supported each other and, from the outset, accepted that some things wouldn't work but it was worth a try. 

2020 made me realise the importance of having the right people in your teaching team - if you have a good team, everything else falls into place. 2020 was also the year that COVID disrupted everything, but our team pivotted and learned how to engage our students online. We tag-teamed as online instructors,  moderators and trouble-shooters. We dressed in costumes, danced and made complete fools of ourselves - all in the name of education.

I have had three really special periods in my teaching career that I would classify as 'golden' - this was one of them.