Written by Assunta Di Gregorio, Deputy Head of High School

My introduction to Moriah College was in late 2000. The Sydney Olympics, and the deafening noise of the Blackhawk helicopters that monitored the bike race in Waverley, had been and gone; the Y2K bug turned out to be a real fizzer with no massive tech failure and a new HSC syllabus had just been implemented. 

In that first meeting, the Jewish culture was described to me as being similar to my own Italian heritage in that both groups value food and family. At the time I smiled at the concise summary, which incidentally proved to be very true on many occasions and has clearly resonated with me to this day.

Twenty-four years at Moriah has taught me a great deal; and as I prepare to leave, I can’t help but reflect on the past and the changes that have shaped me as a practitioner and a leader.

Over the years, I have taken delight in seeing many students and teachers exceed their own expectations, which has been awesome.

In the interest of brevity, below is a list of the top 10 things I’ve learned about education based on lived experience at Moriah. I offer these musings with particular thanks to the countless wonderful students and staff, past and present, that I have enjoyed working with throughout that time.

1. Teaching is relational – people want to connect. Ensuring the point of connection is positive and fulfilling matters a great deal.
2. Effective feedback is a powerful driver of performance. Implementing that feedback is the only way to really know if you’ve understood.
3. Consistency matters but not if its mediocre. Strive. Be goal oriented and reflective because we should always strive to be the best version of ourselves.
4. A student’s self-belief is important but when they know that someone else believes in them too, it can set forth a powerful chain of events.
5. Adolescents thrive when they feel safe – clear boundaries offer a safety net, both as a hard limit to rail against and as a gentle embrace to lean into. They need that as they are still learning about themselves and their place in their world. Rules are reassuring – they remind students that they are part of something bigger than themselves, and this supports their innate need to belong.
6. High expectations and high accountability go hand in hand with success. With this understanding in place, to truly promote individual and collective growth, high trust and autonomy should naturally follow.
7. The commitment to personal excellence matters. Gratitude keeps it real.
8. When people realise their potential, it awakens and activates a different level of awareness in them, and that is the journey we should all be on.
9. Chutzpah will get you part of the way, but skill and deep knowledge will take you to the next level.
10. Look for the lighter moments and laugh. Humour has a way of setting us free.

They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. I have most certainly loved what I do and am truly grateful for the opportunities afforded to me. Each day has felt like being among friends and family.