Six girls crowd around a table tinkering with robotics. They aren’t
saying a lot to each other, but the looks on their faces show they are
thinking about its mechanics - pondering the whys and fascinated
with the hows. At the next table, four girls are learning to code a
website and, not far from them, teachers are discussing how the girls
will develop an app this year.
There are two words that sum up the activities
happening in this room: Forward Thinking.
Forward Thinking is one of Woodford
House’s four strategic priorities, set to take the
school through to 2020. The other three
are Learner Centred, Family Focused and
Securing our Future.
The Forward Thinking priority, which focuses
on leading the way in everything we do,
provides us with a mandate to nurture the
innovative culture at school.
Innovation at Woodford House is not a new
story, but it is an exciting one that evolves
alongside, if not in front of, educational
research and industry trends.
Woodford House was established on
innovation 122 years ago. Founding Principal,
Mabel Annie Hodge, was described by Rae
Webster in the Dictionary of New Zealand
Biography as a gifted and innovative educator
who had the vision to establish Woodford
House for girls. Miss Mary Holland, the
second Principal, continued to develop the
School while steering its community through
a World War, depression and the 1931 Napier
earthquake. Her foresight to recycle the bricks
from a demolished boarding house to build
courtyards and swimming pool surroundings
can still be seen today. Miss Holland also
ensured there were two women, Mrs Winifred
Beetham Nelson and Miss Elsie Beetham
Williams, as part of the Woodford House
Trust, which showed her ability to look
beyond their current operations and identify
the needs of the future.
This innovative culture was carried on by
all of the subsequent school leaders. Each
leader continued to introduce new ideas,
improve the existing framework and
challenge the thinking of staff, students,
parents and the wider school community.
In recent times, former Principal Jackie
Barron spearheaded our journey to become
a leading school in e-Learning with the
introduction of digital platforms. We were
the first school in New Zealand to use the
learning management system Schoology,
which forms the basis of our teaching and
learning hub. From this launching pad we
have been able to integrate Bring Your Own
Device (BYOD) and online portfolios, which
allow our girls to learn anytime, anywhere.
So what will innovation look like at Woodford
House this year and beyond? Some may ask, is
it even important to focus on innovation
in education?
There is no doubt that the current world is
evolving far quicker than the capacity of the
existing New Zealand and global education
systems. Harvard Innovation Education
Fellow Tony Wagner says, “Today knowledge
is ubiquitous, constantly changing, growing
exponentially. Today knowledge is free. It
is like air, it is like water. It has become
a commodity.
There is no competitive
advantage today in knowing more than the
person next to you. The world does not care
what you know. What the world cares about
is what you can do with what you know.”
We need to create a better system than the
one we grew up with.
We need to develop
students with creative and innovative minds
that can adapt and manage unpredictable
challenges in the future.
Forward Thinking will be at the core of what
we do and how we think at Woodford House.
We are committed to developing girls who
will continue to be flexible, creative and agile
learners, and well prepared for their lives
beyond school.
Yes, innovation will involve tangible
initiatives such as coding websites, discovering
mechanics, project-based learning and
working with 3D printers. But it is more
than that, it is a mind-set, one which will be
reflected across all areas of school life whether
that is in the classroom, on the sports field, or
on a stage.
We will look beyond where we are currently
successful, identify what skills our students
need for tomorrow and put them into
practice today.
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