Recent media coverage has highlighted two important and emerging challenges facing schools and families in the age of Artificial Intelligence. One Sydney Morning Herald article focused on the increasing misuse of student and staff images to create harmful AI-generated deepfakes, often using photographs sourced from school websites and social media platforms. Another raised concerns about the potential for over-reliance on AI tools to diminish critical thinking, creativity and deep learning if students are not guided thoughtfully in their use. These issues are significant, and they deserve a response that is both measured and principled.

At Glenaeon, our approach is not driven by fear, nor by uncritical enthusiasm for new technologies. Rather, we are working through these challenges with clear intention using core principles to guide discussion and decision making and with reference to our risk management framework and ongoing professional learning. During our recent July Staff Professional Learning Days, the teaching staff spent dedicated time exploring the opportunities, responsibilities and risks associated with generative AI. Together, staff engaged with a set of draft core principles that will be used to draft our AI Position Statement: that human development comes first; that technology must serve educational purpose; that teachers remain central to learning; that authentic learning and academic integrity matter; and that privacy, safety and human dignity are non-negotiable.

These principles align closely with our School values and with Steiner’s indications about learning and pedagogy. They remind us that education is fundamentally a human endeavour. While AI may become a useful tool in certain contexts, it cannot replace the deep thinking, imagination, perseverance, creativity and relationships that sit at the heart of meaningful learning.

At the same time, the risks associated with digital images and online content require careful attention. Recent reporting highlighted advice from the eSafety Commissioner and online safety experts regarding the growing use of publicly available school photographs to create manipulated or harmful images of students and staff. Experts have emphasised the need for schools and families to continually reassess how images are shared online in this rapidly changing environment.

As a school, we plan to actively review our policies and practices through both a privacy and risk-management lens. This work includes consideration of how student images are used, the purposes for which they are shared, and the safeguards that should accompany any public communication. We recognise that families hold different views about image sharing and that these views may evolve as technology changes.

For this reason, we ask all parents and carers to take a moment to review their child’s photo permissions within GLO and ensure that these settings accurately reflect their current preferences. What may have felt appropriate several years ago or even back in February may warrant reconsideration in light of the rapidly changing digital landscape.

The questions surrounding AI are unlikely to disappear. If anything, they will become more complex over time. Our commitment is to engage with these developments thoughtfully, to remain informed by evidence and expert advice, and to make decisions that place the wellbeing, dignity and development of students at the center of every conversation.

As with many aspects of education, the challenge is not simply whether we embrace new technologies, but how we do so in a way that strengthens rather than diminishes our humanity. This is important work, and we are grateful for the partnership of families as we continue to navigate it together. To finish, I’ll leave you with words from Rudolf Steiner:

"The point is not what is going to happen, for it certainly will happen, but how it happens -  how these things are handled. The welding together of human beings with machines will be a great and important problem for the rest of the earth-evolution”

Warmly,

Diana Drummond
Head of School