From the College Principal 

Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends of the St Gregory’s College Community,

We have now reached the end of Week 5 of our ten-week term which concludes on Friday 25 June. It has certainly been a busy first five weeks of the term and looking at the College calendar for the second half of the term, the busyness continues right through until the close of the term. In so many ways, this busyness is great to witness. It is wonderful to have our parents returning to events at the College and to witness the great array of activities our students are involved in, both on-campus and off-campus. Being busy means we need to keep the balance in our life, so this is essential to ensure good health and personal wellbeing.

Pentecost - On Sunday 23 May, the Church celebrates Pentecost Sunday. This special day celebrates the end of the 50-day Easter season and the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This is a significant time for our St Gregory’s College community and our faith. Pentecost with Christmas and Easter ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations. In the words of Sister Kym Harris: -

“On Sunday 23 May, we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ gift to us. We don’t need cards or crystals to access the Spirit: The Spirit is within wanting, waiting, desiring to help us. All we need to do is to accept our need and ask for help, realising that the help we get probably won’t be the help we think we need. Rarely will the Spirit take away our problems – rather we will be given the wisdom to work through them in a way that makes us more loving, more human and more spiritual. The essential thing is to ask: to ask for the wise word when relationships are stretched in the family, to ask for patience with the work colleague, for strength when we are tired. Indeed, we need to ask for the Spirit to uphold us in all the myriad of mundane things we do, so that through us our world will become a more Spiritual place.” 

Parent – Student – Teacher Interviews - The recent Parent – Teacher – Student interviews at the College were another clear example of the strong academic culture that exists at St Gregory’s. Over the course of the Friday and the Sunday, over 800 family groups participated with well over 5000 interviews taking place. The interviews are a special time in the College calendar, as this where we see evidence of the relationships that have been built between teacher, student and parents.

On Monday morning this week, I spoke to our teaching staff in the Senior School thanking them for their professional approach to the interviews. I also spoke to our staff and students saying, “We know these efforts will be wasted if we do not build on the discussions that have taken place during the interviews and we genuinely commit to help build and consolidate learning with the students.

It is vitally important that we engage the parents going forward – an email, a note in the student diary, a phone call – these communications at the time of need or to affirm performance is how we build the important triangle of support where parents, student and teacher are ‘on the same page.’

I think it is important that we continue to try to see ‘the big picture’ with each student. As teachers, we always need a better understanding of each child’s academic, emotional, social and physical development.

It is my hope that we used the opportunity during the interviews to ensure our students and their parents understand and appreciate our expectations. We want to build a ‘high expectations learning and teaching environment’ at the College. As you know we need parents supporting their children with their learning at school and at home, where they assist in establishing homework and study routines that will help their child progress.

Again, my thanks for your professional approach to the interviews. Talking to many parents and students during the two days assisted me in understanding how you set the students up for success with strategies, goal setting and in many cases, an understanding that they need to work harder and become more engaged in their learning.”

I share with you the ‘Top 12 Tips for Student Success.’ These really sum up how students can move to become more successful and use the feedback from the Parent – Student – Teacher interviews.

1. Successful students persist. They concentrate on the task and work on it until they have completed it successfully. They ask for help when they get stuck.
2. Successful students have self-control. They act thoughtfully.
3. Successful students listen with understanding. They are open to hearing another point of view.
4. Successful students think flexibly. They are able to view a situation from many perspectives and their minds are open to change. 
5. Successful students use problem-solving and decision-making skills. They can make a plan, monitor their thinking, evaluate their progress and work out new ways to proceed and learn.
6. Successful students strive for accuracy and precision. They know what level they need to reach and are not satisfied with sloppy work.
7. Successful students ask questions. They are curious and seek evidence. They analyse ideas. They use lots of strategies to solve problems.
8. Successful students think and communicate clearly and accurately, both in speech and in writing. They avoid dismissing new ideas.
9. Successful students create, imagine and innovate. They look for different ideas and can think of original ideas of their own.
10. Successful students respond with wonderment and awe. They are fascinated with the world around them and are open to discovering new things.
11. Successful students co-operate. They know how to work together with others.
12. Successful students are open to continual learning. They admit when they do not know something and are eager to find out. They are always growing and learning.

Acknowledgement: Habits of Success by Jenny Edwards and Arthur L Costa, Educational Leadership, April 2012 

Thank You - I wish to thank the many, many staff members who are constantly building behaviour-influencing relationships with their students. Having a positive relationship with students makes everything easier, particularly classroom management. When students like their teacher and trust them, they’ll want to please them, which in turn gives a teacher powerful leverage to influence their behaviour.  If teachers are pleasant in their interactions with their students, if they are open to laughter and seeing the humour in their classroom and in the unique and wonderful personalities of their students, then behaviour-influencing rapport will grow naturally. Students will always look up to their teacher when a positive relationship has been formed and nurtured.

Leave from the College & Absenteeism - During the Term 2 Parent Forums, I have been speaking with the parents about student attendance and absenteeism at the College. I have been stating that I am receiving too many requests for student leave during term time. Many of these requests are for holidays, trips, family visits, etc. Please be aware that the College does not endorse periods of leave for holidays during school terms. Each year, students at St Gregory’s College receive up to fourteen weeks of holiday leave. Any disruptions to learning should be avoided. Only leave periods for illness, exceptional circumstances and emergencies are endorsed as authorised leave.

When a student is absent from school, they miss out on learning – more than 5 hours for each day of absence! The provision of new content and the consolidation of critical learning takes place every day. Days of absence for holidays outside of the scheduled holiday leave periods are days lost to important learning. We don’t get these valuable learning days back.

This year, St Gregory’s College is aiming for a 95% attendance rate per student per year (a maximum of 8 days of absence per student). Please support the College and your child with their learning in attaining this attendance rate.

NAPLAN - Last week, our Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 students successfully completed their National Literacy and Numeracy Tests (NAPLAN). Every student in these year groups across Australia completes these diagnostic set of tests with the results available to all school late in Term 3. I congratulate our students for the excellent manner in which they sat for their tests and want to highlight our 99% attendance rate for the tests – this is outstanding! My sincere thanks to our staff across the Junior School and the Senior School for the care and guidance of the students during the tests and to the parents for their support and constant encouragement of their children.

Enrolments – 2022- Our Junior School (Kindergarten) enrolment interviews for 2022 have begun and my thanks to Joel Weekes, Diana Ivancic, Daniela Romeo and the committed Junior Years staff members involved in the interview process. This is a great privilege to interview our prospective students and their families. Our Year 7 – 2022 Enrolment Interviews have now been held and offers for enrolment will be sent to families next week. My sincere thanks to our Year 7 – 2022 Interview Team for their support with the interviews, and to our Acting Registrar, Mrs Danielle Sherd for her wonderful organisation of the interview process.

Examinations – Year 7 to Year 10- I take this opportunity to wish our Year 7 – 10 students every success with their upcoming Half Yearly Examinations over the coming days. Our students need to take these exams seriously – preparing well for the exams and performing to the best of their ability during each of their exams. My thanks to the staff who have prepared these important assessments and will mark and provide feedback to the students. 

Congratulations – We all know so many great things happen at St Gregory’s and all these activities help to grow the culture of our great College! Thank you to all staff and students involved – and to the parents for supporting your child!

Our various sporting teams (ISA, National Schoolboys’ Cup, Bill Turner Cup, MCS and IPSSO), our Show Team, our Debating and Public Speaking teams, and our Mock Trial team have all experienced a range of successes over the past three weeks. I am sure you will read about these successes in other sections of this Newsletter. I thank each and every student who makes a contribution to the College in their chosen pursuits. Through your involvement and engagement as a team member, you learn valuable skills and you share your talents with your team mates. St Gregory’s College has a proud reputation in all of these pursuits and will continue to experience success due to the commitment shown by our students and their coaches and mentors.   

College Musical – Xanadu- The enthusiastic cast and staff team of the 2021 College Musical have been working diligently in preparation to stage the St Patrick’s College and St Gregory’s College’s production of Xanadu. Performances will be held at St Patrick’s College Campbelltown on the following dates:

• Friday 4 June – 7.30pm
• Saturday 5 June – 2pm & 7.30pm 

I wish all the students participating from both Colleges every success with the production. Please support our outstanding performing arts students. 

End of Term - An early reminder that all classes conclude on the afternoon of Friday 25 June for our Kindergarten – Year 12 students. All students are expected to attend classes until the end of Term 2. We all need to finish each term strongly and work in a sustained fashion until the last period of the final day of term. I request that parents / carers wishing for their son / daughter to finish the term prior to Friday 25 June write to me in advance to request leave for your child. Please constantly check the College web calendar for updated calendar and events details.

Finally, thank you again for your ongoing support, encouragement, friendship and wise counsel. The support you provide assists me greatly. 

I wish you God’s blessings always. Please stay safe, stay healthy and stay strong over the coming weeks. May Mary, our Good Mother, Saint Marcellin Champagnat and Saint Gregory continue to guide us each day and inspire us on our journey together.

Quae Seminaveris Metes – “You will reap what you sow."

Mr Lee MacMaster 

College Principal (K-12)