Wellbeing - Middle School

Leadership is Leading for the Common Good

In my address at our Middle School Assembly, and with a theme around leading and serving one another, I spoke to the boys about the story of Australian Olympian, Peter Norman, a 200m runner at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. The race was won by American Tommie Smith in world-record time. His fellow countryman John Carlos came third and between the two Americans was silver medallist Peter Norman. 

It was after this race that it all happened. The two Americans who had been profoundly affected by the racism that they had seen and experienced over their lifetimes made some special pact before walking out to the ceremony. To symbolise the poverty, they took off their shoes and wore black socks. Smith wrapped a black scarf around his neck. Carlos wore a bead necklace. They also wore black gloves – or at least, that was the plan - but Carlos forgot to bring his. This created a problem: if Carlos did not wear his gloves, Smith would look silly. Well, the Australian came to the rescue. “Why not wear one each?” he said. The Americans stared at each other, stunned. Well inspired, it was with one glove each that John Carlos and Tommy Smith walked out into the Olympic arena. The Australian, Peter Norman, also wore a badge to symbolise his support for their cause.

While the Americans received praise and the tide started to turn for their cause back home, the response from Australia was one of deep disapproval. He never ran in the Olympics again. Never invited back to anything, even when we hosted the 2000 Olympics. In 2006, Peter Norman passed away. Six years after his death, Australia’s Federal Parliament posthumously recognised Peter Norman’s “extraordinary athletic achievements,” apologised to him for his treatment and recognised the powerful role that he played in furthering racial equality. He also received an “Order of Merit” for his service.

I stressed at Assembly that there is a distinct learning for the students at the College. We talk about our College motto – ‘letting our light shine’ and that carries many meanings. When people are caught up in a moment, some may choose to shrink away from the light, while others grow to fill the space that they have been thrust into. Peter Norman in that split second took a brave stand - he filled that space. He stood up for something and didn’t go with the majority. So, I urged the students to consider what would be their Peter Norman moment. Their day and their life is full of choices; the little choices amount to big ones. The way they carry themselves in class, the way they behave in public, the way they hold their peers to account, and challenge each other to be better. The more Peter Normans we have here, the unsung heroes, the better we will be together as a College.

In recognition of serving one another, it was a pleasure to see two of our Year 8 ambassadors Terence Michael and Louis Gilroy along with College Captain Michael Sakr lead the Assembly, our Year 6 College leaders presented to the Middle School, an address by our new Junior School Captain, Marcus Donovan, and Daniel De Pasquale and Lachlan Feige launch our “Clean up Australia initiative”. Dr Lavorato also importantly addressed our Assembly regarding role model behaviour and safety in our school and around the local community.

Alexandros Sinadinos

Director of Middle School

First Pastoral Care Lesson for Year 8

In our first PCL lesson we looked at a dimension of Wellbeing, focusing on social media and its impacts on our mental health. We also looked at meditation techniques from Kobe Bryant and how and why he does it every day to improve his mental health.  

Ethan Thomas - 8 Coghlan 2

First Pastoral Care Lesson for Year 7

On Friday 23 February, all students in Year 7 took part in our pastoral care period. In this period we went through how to form a growth mindset which is the ability to bounce back from the challenges that we face, as well as discussing time management strategies. As a homeroom we wrote down our timetables and discussed them with our peers. Overall these periods have been exciting, helpful and refreshing to go through as we start our high school journey. 

Andre Grasso - 7 Hanrahan 1