Rossinca Heritage School

At Rossinca Heritage School, we believe education is the key to exploring and realizing what matters most to each of us in our lifelong journey.  Learning that our choices and actions have repercussions locally, nationally, even internationally, confirms for each child that her/his presence and efforts are truly meaningful and of consequence far beyond self.  Global Citizenship is the recognition that our world is increasingly complex and interdependent presenting many quality of life challenges that need partnership with our youngest generation.  We share the same world environment of scarce finite resources and are linked economically through trade, socially via the ever expanding reach of media and telecommunications, evolving new cultural and political forces that must be balanced for the future welfare of all.

 

Our Citizen-to-Citizen Diplomacy curriculum nurtures personal respect and respect for others, wherever they live, whatever language they speak. It encourages individuals to think deeply and critically about what is equitable and just, and what will minimize harm to our planet. Exploring Global Citizenship themes help learners grow more confident in standing up for their beliefs, and more skilled in evaluating the ethics and impact of their decisions.  A Rossinca student is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen.  She and he respect and value diversity, seek an understanding of how the world works, is outraged by social injustice, participates in the community at a range of levels, from the local to the global, is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place and, perhaps most importantly of all, takes personal responsibility for all actions and inaction.

 

Global Citizenry and Citizen-to Citizen Diplomacy is joyful hard work.  In all contacts, identifying what separates, makes us different and divides us is easy.  Searching beyond differences to locate and tease forward commonalities is hard work.  Developing patient respect and strong listening skills may not be enjoyable, but, “joyful” is an attitude and approach of choice.  Any work worth undertaking is best performed joyfully, all the more so when it is important and consumes great effort.  Joyful hard work is how Global Citizens build diplomatic bridges to improve our world.

 

To be effective Global Citizens, young people need to be flexible, creative and proactive. They need to be able to solve problems, make decisions, think critically, communicate ideas effectively and work well within teams and groups. These skills and attributes are increasingly recognized as being essential to succeed in other areas of modern life too, including most workplaces. These skills and qualities cannot be developed without the use of active learning methods through which pupils learn by doing and by collaborating with others.

 

The opportunities our fast-changing ‘globalized’ world offers young people are enormous. But so too are the challenges. Young people are entitled to an education that equips them with the knowledge, skills and values they need in order to embrace the opportunities and challenges they encounter, and to create the kind of world that they want to live in. An education that supports their development as Global Citizens is foundational as it addresses issues of global interdependence, diversity of identities and cultures, sustainable development, peace & conflict and inequities of power, resources and respect.

 

Rossinca Heritage School does NOT promote or advocate one set of answers or values or attitudes.  Our education encourages children and young people to explore, develop and express their own values and opinions, simultaneously and always requiring that our students listen to and respect other people's points of view.  This is an important step towards children and young people making informed choices as to how they exercise their own rights and their responsibilities to others.  It is also vital that teachers at all levels do not approach education for global citizenship with the feeling that they must have all the answers – impossible anyway in such a fast changing world. The role of our teachers is to enable pupils to find out about their world for themselves and to support them as they learn to assess evidence, negotiate and work with others, solve problems and make informed decisions.

 

Global Citizenship imbues in our children a genuine ethic of care for their world and the Rossinca education provisions and empowers each child with the tools to make a meaningful difference.  “Nurturing the Renaissance Child” is the process by which our students develop their global awareness and the realization that “Cultural Understanding + Sharing = Peace".