Creativity Week in the Senior School

“To understand is to perceive patterns.” – Sir Isaiah Berlin

The idea that understanding involves identifying connections is central to this year’s Creativity Week. Dr Poon, Coordinator of Learning Link – Gifted and Talented, organised a jam-packed week of activities ranging from a writers’ panel discussion to mask making. These sessions gave the girls an opportunity for artistic expression and also encouraged them to think critically and problem-solve.

In Forensic Science classes, the girls tested their detective skills in “The Case of the Murdered Mayor”. Our Year 8 Forensic Science students undertook a forensic investigation of the crime scene, a cabin in the woods. They analysed hair found at the crime scene, entomological evidence (insect larvae), blood collected from the scene and from suspects, fingerprints and tyre marks. From this analysis, they deduced the guilty party!

Also, Year 8 Science classes explored a virtual escape room designed to strengthen their understanding of sustainability, climate change and rice agriculture. Faced with a sudden emergency – a flooding scientific research laboratory – students had thirty minutes to solve seven clues which unlocked the pumps and drained the lab! The students worked in teams of four to solve seven different puzzles, some involving experiments and calculations to find patterns.

Year 9 Science classes looked at ultimate pattern recognition – how the brain takes light and sound patterns and interprets them as language. Based on a National Geographic documentary, students played a game called Time Travel Telephone to communicate a scientific phrase like “light travels faster than sound” using all forms of human communication – first through gestures, then through pictures, and then through the spoken word.

While our focus this week is on creativity, it is important to us to develop the girls’ creative thinking year-round. We do this in class by valuing critical thinking and problem-solving over the simple recall of information. Through our focus on lateral learning, we encourage the girls to bring together their understanding from different disciplines in order to be creative. By posing open-ended questions and challenges we provide time and space for our students to collaborate and find creative solutions.

On behalf of the teaching staff, I extend a warm thank you for your partnership in the teaching and learning of our girls this year.

Wishing you the joy and hope of Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Christ.