Deputy Principal

“People who succeed aren’t the one who avoid failure, they are the ones who learn how to respond to failure with optimism.”

Upon reflecting on the achievements of those young men acknowledged in our Academic Assembly last Friday 28 July. It is timely to highlight the mindset behind achieving such positive results. Too often the mentality of a young man can be to step backwards and not to confront the things that do not come easily. For the young men across each year level who were acknowledged for their success this has come as a result of sustained effort and hard work. Those who are ready and willing to push themselves to improve and develop. 

How do I achieve this? 

• I engage with my teachers more willingly and am open about the areas which I know I can find hard or challenging.
• I put in the work to produce the best I can, this means doing more than the bare minimum. 
• I have a study routine outside of school hours. Where I dedicate the time and  space to study and work on set tasks.
• Within the class I am not preoccupied with how others will view me. I am preoccupied with focusing on me and what I need to do in order to achieve my best.
• I am a person who contributes positively to the learning environment. The values of a Virgilian are displayed within my deeds.

Parents and Friends Association

I take this opportunity to thank the support and hardworking efforts of our Parents and Friends Association. Firstly, for providing the dinner for teaching staff on the first day back of this term, along with the support of student volunteers. Recently, the P&F have donated a foosball table and coffee machines for our Year 11 Student Lounge which has been received with much enthusiasm from our Year 11 cohort. Combined with the addition of some first aid back packs to support the outdoor education program and lastly, we will be receiving shortly three external/permanently fixed table tennis tables to be placed around the College for all year levels to access during recess and lunch. As always, we are incredibly grateful for these donations and thank the P&F for all you do in support of our community.

Bully Report System

As a College, we unequivocally do not stand for any form of bullying. Our students are constantly reminded of and encouraged to use our online system for reporting incidences of bullying, this can be accessed on Simon. It is important to note how to approach bullying and to not use the same tactics in which we were not happy to receive ourselves. We encourage our boys to support one another and to speak with our staff so we can ensure this behaviour does not continue. Within this approach it is important not to get drawn into the bystander mentality. When we experience things that we know a simply not right we should do something about it. We encourage our boys to look after their mates and let them know they are here to support them. Combined with letting our mates known when something is not on and not what we are about. Standing up in tough moments supports those having a negative experience and sends a wider message that this is not who we are and what we accept. 

I strongly encourage our boys to:

• Support each other: there may come a time when you need this support.
• Speak up: don’t accept people doing the wrong thing, your mates included.
• Communicate with staff: inform your PC teacher, Head of House and complete the online bully report form.