Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Welcome to Term 2! I hope you had a wonderful Easter and had some time to relax and enjoy time with your family and friends. We welcome our new students and their families to our O’Connor community and are very happy that you have chosen our college for your learning journey.

 

Towards the end of Term 1, I attended a conference looking at schooling pathways for students and post school options. This led to some reflection on schooling and its purpose and how to collaborate with students so that they leave school with the skills,disposition and knowledge needed to live a fruitful, hope-filled life. I read this article Begin With The End: What’s The Purpose Of Schooling?. In this article, the author argues that there are 5 domains to interrogate to build an understanding of the purpose of schooling -

 

1)   Content Knowledge. 

2)   Skills. 

3)   Habits of Success (also called character skills or social-emotional skills) 

4)   Real-World Experiences and Social Capital. 

5)   Health and wellness. 

 

If I was writing the article, I would start with 5 - Health and Wellness. Without being healthy in mind and body, very little real learning takes place. Students need to feel safe and supported, known and cared for by the adults in the school so that they can learn and take risks with their learning to truly engage in the process.

 

Our Diocesan Living Well Learning Well student support framework explores these concepts in a holistic and practical way. The Rules for Living and Learning underpin the work we do in supporting our students in attaining the domains discussed in 2, 3, 4 and 5. The three areas we work through at school are - 

With these comes responsibilities for students, parents and carers, teachers and staff to ensure everyone in our community feels safe, is valued, respected and cared for, and is a learner. Our work continues to uphold these values so that our school does fulfil our vision;

Our vision is a faith filled Catholic Professional Learning Community, founded on faith & focused on learning, working collaboratively to enhance the learning for all, resulting in students who are creative, confident and informed people ready to make a real difference in our world. We believe that everyone can learn, not always at the same time or in the same way, and we strive to create learning opportunities for all.

 

 

Term 2 is a very full term with reporting, retreats and extra curricula activities including The Armidale Eisteddfod and many sporting opportunities. It is important throughout the busyness of this term that we continue to focus on learning. 

 

In Term 2 every student will receive an academic report. Senior students will receive their report early this term. There will be Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences held for both Year 11 and 12 for students, along with their parents, to engage in learning conversations with their teachers to move their learning forward. There will be the opportunity to do these interviews either face to face at school or via zoom. 

Years 7 to 10 will receive their reports at the end of this term. Student led conferences will be held early Term 3 and students will work with their parents and Pastoral Academic Care teachers to look at strategies to improve their learning growth. 

 

 

 

 

What new learning will you undertake this week?

Regina Menz