FROM THE PRINCIPAL
TERM 1 - WEEK 11
To the St Nicholas School Community
REAL TALK
St Nicholas 2019 Real Talk program was a wonderful success. The feedback from attending parents was once again extremely positive. A general consensus being how naive we are in regards to the internet, in believing our children are safe and not being exposed to incredibly harmful material.
ANZAC DAY
ANZAC Day is a date of great significance on the Australian Calendar. As an Australian I am proud of the way we come together to recognise and thank our past and present service men and women.
As Principal of St Nicholas School I can not stress enough the importance of us coming together and displaying our gratitude and respect to our past and present service men and women. Marching is such a small sacrifice each of us can make. Specific details surrounding the march are located in this newsletter and I look forward to marching side by side with your sons and daughters.
CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL
Today our students enjoyed a highly successful cross country carnival. As a huge believer in the “healthy body - healthy mind” mantra, I get great joy in watching our students exercise with a smile on their face. To watch our students challenge themselves with beating the clock, a friend, their little voice telling them to stop, a PB, or the course, was simply inspiring. Congratulations to each and everyone of you.
An enormous thank you to Mrs Tyrrell and her band of helpers for making this opportunity for our students both possible, and so very successful.
Keep an eye on Facebook tomorrow to see a small video of this great event!
PRINCIPALS' MEETING: THE BREAKTHROUGH COACH
As mentioned last week, I spent Thursday and Friday as a participant in “The Breakthrough Coach” workshop, the brain child of Malachi Pancoast. The course identifies structures and processes to ensure principals can focus on the core business of our work, the learning and wellbeing of the school community. While at times the workshop reinforced our procedures at St Nicholas, it also challenged me as being quite extreme and controversial. Content covered included:
The role of the principal is not to work in the system, but to work on the system.
Be the coach, not the playing coach.
Why does the principal have an office?
The principals space should only include a conference table, nothing personal or technical.
What percentage of the principal's job is administrative and should in fact be completed by someone else in the school?
The principal's email account should first go through the secretary.
Under no circumstances should parents meet with staff by walking in unannounced. Appointments must be made in advance.
Principals are too available. All appointments with the principal (phone and meeting in person) need to go through the secretary. A time is then provided.
Why is the school newsletter weekly, when at very most it should be fortnightly?
The reasoning underpinning these processes is to give the principal time to get in the classrooms and support the children and staff in with their learning.
Throughout 2019 you will notice some change, nothing drastic, which will allow me to spend more time with your children in the classrooms. Please be assured any change will be clearly communicated with you before implementation, and it will be based on what is best for our students learning and wellbeing.
Have a happy, holy and safe Easter.
John Clery
Principal
