Wellbeing - Middle School
What can the Olympic Games teach us?
As the Paris Games start this week, there is much to learn about the Olympic Games. Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the most incredible achievements of the past. In Sydney 2000, Cathy Freeman won gold in the 400-metre athletics, becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to win an individual Olympic gold medal. In Athens 2004, Ian Thorpe dominated the 200-metre men’s freestyle, beating American Michael Phelps, setting an Olympic record and collecting the fifth gold medal in his career. During Beijing 2008, diver Matthew Mitcham won the country’s first gold medal in his sport since 1924 and who can forget Sally Pearson’s reaction to winning gold in the London 2012 100-metre hurdles- a somewhat unexpected yet well- deserved victory.
A member of our Middle School staff, Mr Robin Jeffrey (5 Orange) combined with West Australian Kynan Maley to contest the C2 slalom event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The duo raced through their heats to qualify for the semi-final where they finished 10th, not enough to progress to the six-team final. Importantly we also have a few old Boys of our College participating at this year’s games. Mark Nawaqanitawase ('18) who is a member of the Men’s Rugby Sevens team coached by another esteemed Old Boy and Rugby great, John Manenti ('88). Champion swimmer and two-time Olympian Se-Bom Lee ('18) is also competing this week along with Christopher Ius (’17) as part of the Athletics Squad.
Reflecting on all of these achievements, here are three principles that our Middle School students can learn from the games:
1. Continue to make it easy for children to participate in authentic experiences.
Authentic experiences are what drives enthusiasm, motivation and passion. Similar to these Olympic athletes, where that strong desire exists through relatable experiences, it will foster stronger relationships and in turn will lead closer to success. We have many authentic experiences, many of which I have named in last week’s edition of the Especean that are upcoming for our Middle School students.
2. Continue to provide students with visions of success that can drive interest in a variety of a fields.
These amazing achievements came as a result of hard work and dedication from these athletes. The many years of goal setting, specific and measurable goals, commitment to their craft and a strong work ethic meant that these dreams were realised. A significant take out for our students as they reflect on their goals with their homeroom teacher/Year Coordinators over the next few weeks and in our Pastoral Care Lessons.
3. Only when students develop the desire should we all encourage practice for the sake of development.
The achievements mentioned above were not driven to practice by a desire to get to the next stage in life, but rather they were driven by a deep desire to master their craft. So, for our students, fostering deep desire and a love of learning means self-motivation and self-regulation are the primary wellbeing components that will drive them.
May we continue to be inspired by these Olympic stories to come from Paris and find every opportunity to relate back to our lives, and in particular your son’s journey through their middle years at St Patrick’s College.
Alexandros Sinadinos
Director of Middle School