Message from the Principal

Dear Parents

We are living in exciting, fast paced and uncertain times. As I have discussed in previous newsletters, many organisations are striving to become more adaptiveand agile as a means to cope with this change phenomenon. I recently read the World Economic Forum “The Future of Jobs Report 2018”, and it has reinforced the idea that our future will be full of opportunities and challenges.

In the Key Findings the report states:

“As technological breakthroughs rapidly shift the frontier between the work tasks performed by humans and those performed by machines and algorithms, global labour markets are undergoing major transformations. These transformations, if managed wisely, could lead to a new age of good work, good jobs and improved quality of life for all, but if managed poorly, pose the risk of widening skills gaps, greater inequality and broader polarization. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution unfolds, companies are seeking to harness new and emerging technologies to reach higher levels of efficiency of production and consumption, expand into new markets, and compete on new products for a global consumer base composed increasingly of digital natives’ (p. vii).

The report also identifies ‘four specific technological advances—ubiquitous high-speed mobile internet; artificial intelligence; widespread adoption of big data analytics; and cloud technology—are set to dominate the 2018–2022 period as drivers positively affecting business growth.’ The report also places jobs into categories of ‘New Roles, Stable Roles and Redundant Roles’. New roles include jobs such as Data Analysts and Scientists, AI and Machine Learning Specialists, Big Data Specialists and Digital Transformation Specialists. Some of the predicted redundant roles include factory workers, van drivers and bank tellers.

The future will be about the adoption of new technologies and how they impact on our lives. As parents and educators we play a key role in how we prepare our young people to live, work and play in this ever changing technology society.  We need to constantly review our response to technology and how our young people are interacting with it. As you are aware, we are currently reviewing our digital devices policy in a response to parental feedback. Please register to our ROAR focus group on Saturday 23 March from 9.00am to 11.00am on this link if you would like to contribute to this discussion.

Sign up for Roar 6!

I also invite all our parents to a keynote presentation from a leading expert on cyber-safety. Three events are being held across ESF, with a session at KGV School on Thursday 11 April at 6.30pm. Please see below information and registration process regarding this event.

At KGV School we accept that new technologies are a part of life, and they can have positive and negative impacts. It is about working together as a community to ensure our young people have the skills and understanding to use technology responsibly. As adults, we have a job to educate, protect and help manage how our young people interact with technology. It will be an ongoing learning process for us as parents and educators. As a learning community, I am optimistic that if we work together to prepare your child, our student as this ‘fourth industrial revolution’ unfolds around us.

Kind regards

Mark Blackshaw
Principal
King George V