Leader of Year 9 Wellbeing

Here we are in Term 2, Week 3 already and I would like to report that our Year 9’s are growing up quickly and making good progress across the whole range of educational opportunities available here at St Aloysius College Cronulla:  academic, sporting, cultural, spiritual and social justice.

For this Newsletter, I would like to highlight the courage and tenacity of three groups of students who go above and beyond to give of their best and ‘seize the day‘ -

1. Our Representative Debaters who turn up each Wednesday night to compete against other Catholic schools in the CSDA: Imogen D’Apice, Charlie Frost, Ryan Shokri, Sophie Slack, Brodie Stephenson, Rosemary Taylor. Speaking in front of a live audience can be very intimidating but these young people are brave enough to get up and debate such topics as Australian Values for 5-6 minutes per speaker. This is great training for future leadership and professional success and we are very proud of their enthusiasm and aspiration. So far this season, we went down to OLM, defeated Penshurst and lost to Kogarah. Thank you also to our amazing volunteers! 

         

2. Our amazing musicians from the recent Founder’s Day Talent Show. Sophie Slack and Grace Logiacco presented a fantastic performance of “Teenage Dirtbag“, Sophie on lyrics and Grace on guitar. Although they didn’t win, it takes real courage to get up there on stage in front of hundreds of people and give it your best shot. They received a great reception and we hope to see them back on future occasions! We also hope to see more Year 9 talent step up and take that risk to showcase their abilities and flair, whether it be musical, dramatic, comedy or any other innovative idea. Sometimes you just need to sign up and take a leap of faith! Special mention to our helpers and backstage crew. 

    

3. Our diligent academics who are working with sustained effort to achieve their goals and are ‘kicking goals‘ across the curriculum. On our Data Tracker, the following students make up our current Top Ten: Brodie Stephenson, Imogen D’Apice, Finlay Kent, Isla Whitford, Jasmine South, Sophie Slack, Charlotte Fleming, Chloe McFadyen, Ryan Shokri, Zoe Pontey. This is based only on Term 1 results in the mandatory subjects and many more Year 9 students are now pushing to join this group when Term 2 assessments begin in a few weeks time. I urge all of our young people to give of their personal best and try to reach their potential. Studies indicate a strong link between academic organisation and tenacity in Year 9 and the chances of success in the HSC in three years' time. 

What all three groups above have in common is their preparedness to go against the grain, defy the influence of peer pressure and just get involved, give 100%, not stress about being ‘ uncool ‘ or being embarrassed and just stand up and have a go! It is interesting that some of the same names appear across all three groups. It is also apparent that our girls are outshining the boys. Of course, there are many other activities which I haven’t talked about here but I wanted to highlight some areas which sometimes get overlooked and commend those involved for having the courage to not just be passive spectators in their education, but active participants! Well done, Year 9.

Mr Peter Robertson

(Leader of Wellbeing, Year 9)