Living Faith prides itself on teaching and learning practices that promote student engagement, purpose and the development of 21st century skills. With a holistic approach towards nurturing and developing the ‘whole’ child, Living Faith implements leading edge concepts to best prepare students for our rapidly evolving world. 

What are our concepts and what do they mean?

Growth Mindset: 

A growth mindset is a learning theory that focuses on the belief that a person’s abilities and performance are not set in stone. In fact, they can be improved through effort, persistence and belief in oneself. At Living Faith, Growth Mindset Week occurs across the entire school in the first week of the year, where students are encouraged to participate in a range of learning activities that promote the establishment of a positive growth mindset culture. Once this foundation is laid, growth mindset becomes a regular part of daily life at Living Faith.

Project-Based Learning and Exhibition Evenings: 

PBL is a method whereby students learn by actively engaging in meaningful, semester-long projects that involve authentic, real world problems and experiences. Students learn through inquiry with their teachers and peers, resulting in the development of deep content knowledge as well as 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. They then go on to showcase their PBL journey to the community at Exhibition Evening, allowing students to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Contemporary Competencies: 

We understand the need to prepare our students with 21st century skills required to thrive within our ever-changing world. Contemporary Competencies, also known as ‘soft skills’, are explicitly taught throughout all year levels with some of the main ones being: adaptability, collaboration, communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, global awareness, initiative, problem solving, reasoning, resilience, self-direction and service.

Service Learning: 

Lutheran Education Australia defines Service as, ‘Faith active in love.’ Service is a core component of Living Faith’s culture, and is one of our Contemporary Competencies. All students engage in real-world service learning projects that encourage them to grow as compassionate, responsible citizens who recognise and respond to the needs of others and our planet. 

In the following editions of Faith Matters, we will continue to unpack some of the other remaining concepts Living Faith prides itself on:

• Agile Learning Spaces
• Pastoral Care
• Play-Based Learning
• Collaborative Classrooms
• Digital Technologies

- Tess Grogan, Acting Director of Learning