I’ve been watching the latest SA Health ads about spreading germs with interest. You know the ones where the person sneezes and they make it really obvious where it all goes? It’s about stopping the spread of flu. There is a fair bit of flu and illness going around at the moment, but it got me thinking outside the square a bit. I thought about how good it is that some things are contagious.

Last night as I walked from class to class around our school during the Learning Expo, I couldn’t help but think how contagious good learning and good experiences around learning can be. I watched as many children grabbed their parents by the hand and dragged them to their class, so excited to share what they had been learning. I also watched as many parents sat with scissors or pencils or magnets or coins or puzzles and did the same activities their children were so excited about. That was great contagious learning.

I remember many years ago taking our girls to the Desert Park in Alice Springs. We spent the whole day there. There were bird shows, information sessions about plants and red kangaroos and nocturnal desert animals. I was so excited and so were Alison and the girls. We kept saying to one another, have you seen this, how amazing is that!!! It was such a great day. I spoke with some friends sometime later and they shared how a couple of their children had not really liked some of the things and it had then put a dampener on the whole experience for the rest of the family. It got me thinking about how important contagious enthusiasm is for learning, even in the simplest things, and how it can make a huge difference in the memories and experiences of those around.

A big thank you to our teachers and staff who have again gone the extra mile in creating learning experiences for our children. A big thank you also, to the mums and dads, brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends who came along last night and helped a love of learning to grow and become contagious. You made a difference in the lives of our children.

Have a great week with your kids,
Mark B