Assistant Principals' Report
World Kindness Day
Today is World Kindness Day which gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we can make kindness the “norm” in our everyday lives.
Our community at Doncaster Secondary College is really great at this. Today, I have seen many students listening attentively to each other, observed one helping another student work out which classroom she was in, observed another sharing their calculator, and yet another showing a friend how to improve their downball skills. I have observed a staff member take another’s replacement class because someone was extra busy today, and another staff member heated my lunch for me to save me time.
When people are kind to us, we feel cared about, and so we often think of our acts of kindness as benefiting only the receiver, but actually being kind to others can have a really profound impact on how we feel about ourselves as well. Sometimes we focus on achieving things and excelling at tasks to try and build self-esteem, but often, what actually makes us feel more positive is noticing that we are acting kindly in the world and being useful to others.
Kindness is an example of courageous behaviour. It takes courage to put our own needs to one side and instead focus on another person, especially in the busy and demanding world that we live in. But in the end, we benefit from it. The great news is, we can choose to respond with kindness irrespective of the circumstances. In doing this, we can have a huge impact, even if it's just one person at a time.
What’s one small action you can take today to be kind to someone in your life?
Seven ways to start making kindness the norm in your daily life:
Kindness Calendar
Some ideas to help you to practice kindness each day.
There also many more wonderful resources made available to us through The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.
Elisha Sadikay
Assistant Principal
NAIDOC Week 2020
NAIDOC Week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and a chance to acknowledge First Nations peoples’ history, culture and achievements. The theme this year is ‘Always Was, Always Will Be.’
Traditionally celebrated in July each year, this year we are celebrating NAIDOC week in November, due to the pandemic. This has been a unique opportunity to share this with our learners, as it often falls over the holiday break.
Teachers in subjects such as Humanities, Music and English have been engaging students in activities promoting understanding of our First Nations cultures this week. If you would like to explore some of the resources that students have been using to build their awareness and join in the celebration you could these links are recommended:
- NAIDOC 2020 Always Will, Always Will Be
- Uluru Statement of The Heart (written and audio form)
These texts have been used to introduce students to key vocabulary as part of an authentic discussion about the Indigenous experience.
Belinda McGee
Assistant Principal