The Virtual Learning Community (VLC) at Hillcrest Christian College has many great benefits, says Year 8 VLC core teacher Mr Joshua Berrigan.
WhichSchool?: When did you commence in your position/role at the school?
Mr Berrigan: January, 2024.
WS: What are the top three highlights you’ve experienced as a teacher at the school?
Mr Berrigan: Seeing the holistic focus of Hillcrest to develop students, not just academically, but also emotionally and spiritually, outworked through the VLC. One of my most enjoyable experiences thus far has been having the opportunity to converse with my students one-on-one through Microsoft Teams, which helps them grow in such areas. Certain students have a desire to grow in their Christian faith, and I get to spend time with them each week asking and answering questions, sharing stories and personal life experiences, and teaching them how to draw closer to God. I have also enjoyed having one-on-one opportunities to speak encouragement into students’ lives, and create ways for them to grow in confidence in a classroom setting.
The VLC has many great benefits for families. Many parents and caregivers enjoy the opportunity to be able to spend more time with their children. It is used by parents who work remotely or travel for work, who are now able to spend time with their children as they are travelling. Other students are passionate athletes and train many hours each week in their different sporting arenas, and the VLC is a flexible school option to make this possible. The VLC also offers a safe and supportive environment for students who have experienced bullying at previous schools. I now see the greatest value of VLC being the mix it creates of all the different reasons for students coming together online — sports, travel, family time, and a safe learning place.
In this environment, I have seen multiple students come into class very anxious and damaged by what life has thrown at them at this young age, and after nearly a year of VLC schooling, they are full of confidence and joy, performing academically, and either stay in the VLC or reintegrate back into physical schooling. This is the greatest highlight I have had — seeing students who were hurting and in their shell, regain their confidence and be willing to take on the world again.
We recently had a new student join our class. A simple comment from her mother rings true and was a great highlight for me when she said, “My girl was amazed and shocked that the students in class actually want to learn.”
WS: What makes the school different from other schools?
Mr Berrigan: Hillcrest has a mission to educate and equip students to succeed in life. Very early on at Hillcrest, I heard the Executive Head of College, Mr Davis, say that we need to help grow the students in their emotional resilience and development. In essence, he said that every student, when they go out into the world, will fail at some point, so we need to teach them how to respond healthily when they fail. If they can learn from their failures, and not be sidelined by them, they will be able to succeed in life. Academics alone will not achieve this, hence the focus on emotional intelligence and equipping students to live with strong character and integrity. Hillcrest has a great focus on innovation and a student’s holistic growth and wellbeing.
WS: Why is the school a great place to teach?
Mr Berrigan: From College Leadership down, I believe that all staff at Hillcrest genuinely care about the wellbeing of students first and foremost. As a parent of two children, there is nothing more comforting to me than knowing that my child’s teacher genuinely loves and cares for them. This puts me at ease when I drop them at school each morning. This same focus on helping students know that they are loved and cared for is evident at Hillcrest, from the Executive Head of College to the bus drivers and all the way through the College. This creates an environment where students want to attend school, learn, grow, and try their best.
WS: What are some of the challenges faced by teachers in the primary/secondary sector?
Mr Berrigan: A major challenge teachers face is students disengaging from learning for a multitude of reasons. It could be challenges they are facing at home, negative experiences they have had with other students, or simply the stage of development they are going through, just to name a few. I value the leadership of Hillcrest for its dedication to innovation and courage in stepping out into new methods of education to counter such issues. For instance, the RISE program created for Year 9 students flips the whole educational model to counter the inward focus students have at this stage of development, and instead prioritises students serving the community and looking outwardly at what they can do to support others.
In a similar way, the VLC provides a flexible, supportive learning environment for students who have faced challenges in traditional schools, such as bullying or anxiety. It suits families with athletes, performers, or those who travel, offering a personalised education that fits around their commitments. With a focus on wellbeing and resilience, the VLC ensures students can thrive academically from the comfort of home. With wellbeing at the heart of Hillcrest’s programs it enables opportunities to counter not just disengagement, but the root causes of this disengagement, and is a real strength of Hillcrest Christian College.
WS: Tell us about your approach or philosophy to teaching?
Mr Berrigan: My approach to teaching is that the best way to have someone actively listening and absorbing content is to first show them that I care about them — that I have their best interests at heart. I have found that children engage at a far higher level when I have first connected relationally with them and shown that I value them on a personal level.
WS: Did you have a teacher that inspired you? Tell us about them, and how they inspired you.
Mr Berrigan: My Year 4 teacher, Mr Dance, had a tremendous impact on me. I never enjoyed school more than I did in his Year 4 class. Mr Dance went to great lengths to develop a fun environment for us to learn in; even designing and creating a whole township within our classroom so that once a week we would have a real-life job as a real estate salesperson, banker, shop owner, etc., to learn about life, business, and economics. Mr Dance would consistently include students in board games that he would play with other teachers, which helped develop student-teacher relationships. I not only enjoyed this year the most in my schooling life, but also got the best grades (DUX of Year 4!), and I believe this was due to the effect of his teaching style.
More reading: Principally Speaking: Relationships matter most at Hillcrest