From the Principal

Sustained And Focussed Effort 

In any good school, there should always be plenty of conversation on what is working well and what needs to be improved. As teachers, we often have discussions around creating the best possible conditions to enable our students to grow, learn and flourish. The best teachers are always receptive to new ideas. They have the capacity to maintain existing good practices but are also open to challenge, review and change.

The last two weeks of term are important for many reasons. As we proceed to Easter it is a time for prayer and discernment as we focus on the foundation of our Catholic faith; the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

From a learning perspective, we conduct important Parent Student Teacher interviews. In the secondary school, we encourage students to attend the meetings so that a productive discussion can occur. Teachers and families are the support structure to guide, encourage and enthuse the learning process.

Whilst we have an intuitive appreciation of effort, perseverance and passion, it is interesting to consider some of the literature in this field. Professor Anders Ericsson (1994) from the University of Colorado tested the still widely held notion that people who are experts in the fields, those people who perform at the edge of what is statistically plausible, become so because of innate ability.

The conclusion that Ericsson and his colleagues reached was that this notion of a pre-determined ability to become an expert was wrong and the most important difference between expert performers and the rest of us is the effectiveness of their sustained, focused and deliberate practice.

Another insight was that offered by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 publication, Outliers: The Story of Success. As the title suggests, in his book Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to exceptional levels of success. Throughout the publication, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the ‘10 000 hours rule’ claiming, like Ericsson before him, that the key to achieving an exceptional level of success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of sustained, deliberate and focused practice.

During their time at John XXIII College, our students will face disappointment and they will experience failure but by showing grit through sustained, deliberate and focused practice, they will ultimately be rewarded for their efforts.

Safety of Students

We have received notification from one of our families of a student being inappropriately approached at a sporting training session in Mount Claremont. The student and the sporting club dealt with the matter competently but it serves as a reminder to all our students and families to be vigilant with safety at all times.

Passing of Fr Kevin King SJ

Fr Kevin King SJ, who was a chaplain at John XXIII College for 25 years, died in Melbourne on Tuesday 28 March 2017 aged 90 years. Fr Kevin’s Funeral Mass will be at Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn, Victoria at 10:00am Tuesday 4 April.

A Memorial Mass for Fr Kevin King SJ will be held at John XXIII Chapel on Friday 7 April commencing at 7:30am.

Together, let us seek justice.

Yours sincerely

Robert Henderson

Principal