Thriving School Communities
Elective | Bianca Nuss | Saturday 24th of June, 12.15pm | Roma Room
Abstract
Jumping off boulders, splashing in the ocean fully clothed and climbing trees is all in a day’s learning at The Village School Gold Coast. This type of risky play is increasingly being recognised as an important developmental opportunity for children and the team at The Village School are truly living their motto, ‘changing the face of learning’ and hope to inspire others to do the same. Bianca and Michaela, the school’s founding Principal and Prep Teacher look forward to sharing the undeniable benefits of risky play and some simple tips that will support educators in getting started on this journey.
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Presenter Bios
Bianca Nuss | Founding Principal, The Village School Gold Coast
Bianca Nuss is the Founding Principal of The Village School Gold Coast, the newest and smallest independent primary school on the Gold Coast. She has taught at numerous independent schools in both Brisbane and the Gold Coast prior to opening the school and is a Mum to two daughters; her motivation and inspiration for wanting to provide an additional option in the education landscape.
Being finalists in the 2022 Australian Education Excellence Awards for Non-Government Primary School of the Year and Non-Government Primary School Principal of the Year after the school only being open for six months, has been a career highlight to date.
Bianca believes the focus of schools should be on increasing student’s autonomy, their personal well-being and showing kindness, which will filter through to their academic ability; simply put, heart first then head. She is a big advocate for students engaging in courageous play and completing their own dynamic risk assessments and teachers being coaches and taking learning beyond the boundary of the school every day. Bianca’s passion is to change the face of learning, in students, teachers and parents.
Michaela Mizzen | Founding Prep teacher, The Village School Gold Coast
Michaela Mizzen is the Founding Prep teacher at The Village School Gold Coast, the newest and smallest independent school on the Gold Coast. She works alongside Bianca Nuss, Founding Principal and their small team with a shared vision of “Changing the Face of Learning”.
Michaela loves to take learning beyond the four walls of the classroom and out into the community where her students climb tall trees, jump off large boulders and splash into the ocean…fully clothed! She believes that students thrive when they are given opportunities to learn through their natural environment, to get messy and to challenge themselves both physically and mentally through this type of risky play- often referred to at The Village School as ‘Courageous Play’.
Michaela has shared her passions, presenting at the Independent Schools Queensland’s Big Ideas conference in both Brisbane and Cairns in 2022 on the necessities and benefits of daily risky play and is dedicated to sharing her experiences and the undeniable benefits with other educators and truly changing the face of learning.
