Schools are busy and increasingly complex spaces. Governance, Operations, IR, HR, Finance, Buildings, WHS, Compliance. All these things swirl around and support the running of a college. At the centre of this busy swirl of activity is the engine room of our teachers and the process of learning for our students.

At Green Point Christian College we have a great and professional staff body. I am really enjoying getting to know them and have been impressed with their work.

As a Principal I have a deep appreciation for our Finance, Administration, Grounds and other support staff. I often refer to them as the oil of the school. While often in the background they are so vital to the smooth running of the College. Anyone that has lost oil in their car and had the engine seize, know how quickly that can occur.

The engine of a school as a place of learning is our teaching team. They drive the learning process and support our students in their growth and development. Working to form them towards lives of redemptive action.

Part of our College mission is to develop quality staff who serve our students well. This is an element of our mission that I am very passionate about and love developing. Therefore professional learning is an important focus to the College as we seek to meet this vital element of our mission.

I have three key thoughts that drive my thinking around staff professional learning.

Professional learning is an act of professional sanctification.

At the heart of professional learning is the desire to grow in knowledge, understanding and wisdom and to take every thought captive to Christ Jesus, both individually and communally. This involves continual refinement of our knowledge, skills and understandings to improve student learning and glorify God. Professional learning is an extension of God’s redeeming work in our lives. We have a responsibility to learn the things that will equip us to fulfil the task to which we have been called.

The purpose of professional learning is to positively impact student learning.

God has given parents the mandate to ‘train up a child in the way they should go’. Teachers partner with parents to help them fulfil their mandate by equipping students to engage with God’s world in a range of curriculum areas, and by helping to shape students’ desire for the kingdom of God. Quality teaching has a positive and enduring impact on student learning and discipleship, as well as the student’s experience of the educational process. Therefore, the professional learning of teachers focuses on improving what students learn and growing them in Christ.

Professional learning occurs in community.

In doing so, we strengthen the body of Christ and develop unity in the spirit, for God gives gifts “to enable His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness in Christ". It is vital that we do not consider professional learning merely as an individual endeavour. Rather, individuals are mutually interdependent as they mature and grow. We are all part of one body, are to love one another, be devoted to one another, instruct one another, serve one another, teach one another and encourage one another. Trust, collaboration and sharing of gifts and expertise are therefore essential aspects of professional learning.

I am excited about the continual journey of professional sanctification and growth our staff are on, and the impact this will have on our students and the broader community.

Joel van Bentum