From the Head of Junior School

Dear Members of the St Gregory’s family,

It has been a big two weeks here at College with so many wonderful things happening that we as a community should be extremely proud of. As I sit and write this, I reflect on so many great things that are happening inside and outside of the classroom and I want to thank you for being a community that comes together to make this College great – thanks! 

Being Principled

If I asked you to sit and reflect on what sort of a young person you want your child to be, both now and in the future . . .  what would that be?? 

As a parent myself, I have dreams for my children – something along the lines of “to be happy, healthy and safe in their lives”. But is this sufficient for their future? As educators (parents and teachers) we must have aspirations that are richer and more specific than this, a complementary set of goals that are explicit and detailed, that provide a road map of values and characteristics which our children will be able to uphold all their lives and that we, as educators, uphold, value and feel are imperative for our children to be the lifelong learners that they will need to be to be happy, healthy and safe in their lives.

Over the last few weeks, I have been having discussions with teachers and leadership in regards to the notion of the St Gregory’s graduate and the type of student, male or female, that we are producing at St Gregory’s. 

In our Junior School diary, alongside our 5 Marist Pillars, we also have the IB Learner Profile that we use in the classrooms and around the Junior School. If we were to discuss the idea of being ‘principled’ with your son or daughter, could they grasp what it means? I think the majority of the students could understand this, why? It is an explicit part of what the students are exposed to hear at the College.        

Wouldn’t it be the ideal . . . to have all our students act principled in any given situation. As a community, we need to hold our students in high regard, have high expectations of them and insist that they act in a principled manner. In saying that, they need great role models. As teachers and parents, if we expect our students to be principled, we need to enact this ourselves. 

So, join me in showing our students about what it means to be principled as I want them to know the meaning by ‘doing’. 

The Reflection Room

From time to time our students make mistakes, errors of judgement and at times poor choices. As educators, it is our job to ensure that they learn from these mistakes in order to learn and grow into the young people we want them to be.

At the Junior School, we have incorporated a ‘Reflection Room’ that is in action each day. This is an opportunity for us to work restoratively with the students to reflect on their behaviour and manage how they can learn from this type of behaviour. This type of ‘restorative practice’ is something that provides an opportunity for students to own their behaviour and ensure that they are accountable for their own actions. 

There may be times this year where your son or daughter heads to the Reflection Room, if so, this is to be seen as a short-term measure to help them to understand their actions. The time reflecting is age-appropriate and dependent upon the actions of the student. We look forward to continuing to help model positive character in our students to make St Gregory’s students of great character and substance.

As our St Gregory’s College motto states, ‘You will reap what you sow’.

Joel Weekes

Head of Junior School