HARVEY AG WEEKLY WRAP-UP

Principal 

Stephen Watt

Stephen.Watt@education.wa.edu.au

 

Dear Parents/Carers, Families and College Community

 

Thankyou to those parents who completed the survey about preferences for a more academic course in Year 11 and 12. This week I managed to collect responses from most of our students. I will leave the survey open until the end of next week and then collate the results which I will share with the College Community early next term.

 

Next week families will receive a link to access their child’s Semester One report. Please take the time to sit down with your child and go through the report identifying areas of success and those needing improvement. 

 

We will offer formal interviews with staff on August 19th in a similar format to the interviews in Term One. In the meantime, Parents/Carers are most welcome to contact staff through the front office or email for specific additional information.

 

In recent weeks I have had a few conversations with students and staff about effective communication which is only partly about the use of words. Equally important are the other elements of communication which include;

  • Listening - making sure you take the time to really hear and understand what the other person is trying to tell you.  Just as you want to be heard, so does the other person.
  • Volume, tone and body language - calm and quiet discussion. Crossed arms, frowning faces and pointed fingers are not helpful in getting a constructive message across.
  • Time and place - you can’t resolve a disagreement when parties are upset or in front of an audience. It might be that one or both of the parties trying to communicate need to back off and calm down. There is nothing wrong with agreeing to have a discussion after a break to cool down.

This will be our last 'Weekly Wrap-Up' this term and I wish our staff, families and the wider College community a safe and productive two week break. Thank you to everyone for your efforts and for supporting the College and our students over this term. 

 

I will be away the first two weeks of next term on Long Service Leave travelling through the Pilbara. Dean Pfitzner will act as Principal in my absence and Shaun Cantwell will continue as Vice Principal. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Steve