Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

I was off site today and missed the Mother's Day liturgy, which I'm genuinely sorry about. By all accounts the chapel was full, the singing was strong, and there were the usual moments that make these gatherings what they are: a small child looking sideways to check their mum was watching, a grandmother quietly wiping her eyes during the prayers and the management of a large amount of family memebrs to visit classes and celebrate the liturgy. I heard from staff that it was, as always, a beautiful celebration. Thank you to Father Gayan and to the faith and formation team who prepared it, and thank you to every mother, grandmother, aunt, carer, and mother-figure who came along.

There's something particular about a Mother's Day liturgy in a Catholic school. It sits at the meeting point of two things we hold closely here. The first is faith, which keeps reminding us that motherhood is sacred work, that Mary's "yes" is the model, and that the love a parent has for a child is one of the closest pictures we have on this earth of how God loves us. The second is family. Catholic education has never pretended that learning belongs to schools alone. Parents are the first educators. We say it in our policies, but it's lived in lunchboxes, in homework done at kitchen tables and in the hard conversations after a tough day, Mother's Day is a moment where the school stops and says out loud what we know all year: we cannot do this without you.

A child's learning sits inside a triangle. Three points, each one essential. The school — your child's teachers, their Pedagogy Coaches, their Heads of School, the leaders working on curriculum and wellbeing and faith. The family — you, in all the forms family takes, doing the unglamorous daily work of raising a young person. And the student themselves, who has to choose to engage, to try, to keep going when something is hard. When all three points of the triangle are pulling in the same direction, students flourish. When one point goes quiet, the whole shape weakens.  It's what the research tells us and what twenty-something years of watching children grow has confirmed for me personally.

So a few things I'd ask of our families this week, especially as we hold Mother's Day in our minds.

Keep talking to us. If something is going well at home, tell the teacher. If something is hard, tell us that too. Teachers can adjust for things that are happening at home, and keep an eye out if they know about it.

Stay in the loop on the learning. Ask what your child is studying, not just whether they have homework. Ask them to teach you something they learned this week. The act of explaining is one of the most powerful things a child can do, and you don't need to know the content to be the audience. There is a certain point in every child's life where you will ask them what they did today and there will be the answer that almost defines adolescent attitude: "Nothing." At this point, changing the way that you ask the question can often be a trigger to a discussion. Raising a young man myself, and working with teenagers for a long time, I know you can spend an hour asking questions that have "nothing" as a response.

Instead of "How was school?" try one of these: 

About the learning itself

• What's something your teacher said today that stuck with you?
• What's the hardest thing you're working on at the moment, and why is it hard?
• If you had to teach me one thing you learned this week, what would it be?
• What did you get wrong this week that you now understand?
• Was there a moment today where something finally clicked?
• What's a question you asked in class? What's a question you wished you'd asked?

• What are you actually being assessed on this term? Walk me through it.

   

About the day, when "nothing" is the answer

• Who did you sit next to at lunch?
• What made you laugh today?
• Was anyone away who you missed?
• What was the most boring part of your day? What was the best?
• Who was kind to you today? Who were you kind to?
• What's something a friend said that you've been thinking about since?
• Was there a moment today you wish you'd handled differently?

About what's coming

• What are you looking forward to this week?
• Is there anything coming up I should know about — a test, an assignment, a presentation?
• What's one thing you want to get better at this term?
• Is there a teacher you wish you saw more of? 

About them, not just school

• If you could change one thing about today, what would it be?
• What's something you're proud of right now that I might not know about?
• Is there anything you're worried about that you haven't told me?
• What's something you've changed your mind about lately?
• If you were the principal for a day, what's the first thing you'd do? 

To the mothers reading this on Sunday morning with a cold cup of tea, runny cooked eggs and a card made from coloured paper: thank you. Thank you for the early mornings, the late nights, the worry you carry that your children will never fully see, the hopes you hold for them that you barely say out loud. We see it, we honour it, and we are better at our work because of yours.

Happy Mother's Day.

Kind Regards, 

Kelly Bauer