West Campus News

House Competitions

Well done MacKillop House on not only running the second annual Nun on the Run Competition but also on clinching victory. With only half a term of the competition remaining, this has put MacKillop in striking distance of ladder leaders Avila House. There are still plenty of opportunities to come with Marian and Augustine House Competitions in the next few weeks.

Chess

The House Chess Competition also continues this week and so far Augustine and Romero are both looking to be the front runners. This prepares our students well with the SIS Chess Tournament happening on Tuesday, 11 September and the State Championships also in September. So far we have 10 players who have qualified for this Competition held at Maribyrnong College.

Our team is looking strong for these competitions, especially our senior boys, who have come fresh from a win at the Gippsland Chess Tournament. This was held at Drouin in both the Middle Years and Open Secondary sections. The Middle Years team finished in a credible ninth position. In the individual standings, Jason Chan finished in eighth position with 5 wins.

The Open Secondary team comprising of Darcy Paulka, Anthony Ouch, Sandeepa Andra Hennadige, Stevan Trajkovski, Mason Analidis and Alex Ty finished in first position! In the individual standings Anthony Ouch, Darcy Paulka, and Sandeepa Andra Hennadige, finished in 1st, 2nd and 3rd position respectively and Stevan Trajkovski in 10th place.

The organiser of Chess Kids, specifically noted during the medal presentations that we have two of the finest players in the state currently in Darcy Paulka and Anthony Ouch. This is an accolade of which to be proud. Well done boys!

Year 11 Leadership Day

This week our Year 11 students participated in the Leadership Training Day. This is the first major activity they do together in preparation for being a Year 12 group. As I explained to them, we train all of them as leaders because all of them will be seen as school leaders by the younger students whether they have an official position or not. They were challenged to understand and embrace our model of servant leadership at the College, taught by Jesus and practised by St Peter.

Students reflected on some inspirational leaders such as Anh Do, Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai, Jamy Alex and Dylan Alcott. One session linked leadership with the students’ individual character strengths as Positive Education had helped us unpack this idea. An egg activity in house groups enabled students to practise team work and allow them to reflect upon this. Finally, students were able to listen and ask questions of the 2018 student leaders, understand the various official roles and pick up some good tips about public speaking. Please ask your Year 11 student what they got out of the day.

Please note that Year 10 students are also reflecting on leadership Wednesday as they have the opportunity to nominate for House Captain roles. Speeches for College Captains will occur on Tuesday, 28 August and House Captains will deliver their speeches to their Houses a fortnight later on Tuesday, 11 September.

Note to Parents

In my time as a teacher I have noticed an increase in the level of parental anxiety concerning their children’s education. This has been evident in the increasingly negative interactions between parents and staff, who have been on the receiving end of verbal or written abuse. Such aggressive behaviour is not and has never been accepted at St Peter’s College. I raise this because I know how distressing this can be for our staff who are professionals genuinely doing their best for our students. As a Catholic community, we are called to practise values of compassion, care, love and forgiveness.

I would much prefer parents care too much than not care at all. However, I suspect that the following are a number of factors that are leading parents, whose protective instincts towards their child causes them to lose perspective, to cross the line of what is acceptable behaviour.

Parental desire for their child to have the best of everything. No doubt your choice of St. Peter’s College is because you believe this is the best education that you can access for your child. When parents perceive a problem at school, perhaps this belief is undermined. However, difficulties are part of family, work and school life and have to be addressed in a calm and productive manner.
Parental desire for their child to be happy which sometimes translates into seeking rewards for the child that the child has not earned. The “helicopter parent” who hovers over the child to ensure they suffer no distress will have long-term negative consequences in inhibiting development of that child’s self-confidence and resilience.
The increase in smaller (even one child) families these days can mean that everything is invested in that one child. Consequently, there is a desire for everything to be perfect.
The decline in civility in society is linked with the rise in individualism. Often the message focuses on rights, which encourages people to become quite aggressive. At St. Peter’s College, we speak with our students not only of their rights, but of their responsibilities.
School fees for some people change the perception for some that the parent is the teacher’s employer. As someone who has four children in Catholic education I know that the fees paid by parents are significant and that sacrifices are made by parents to enable children to attend St. Peter’s College. However, I also know that fees cover only about 15% of the cost of running a school. Frankly, as a parent (and I can include myself in this), Catholic schools are undoubtedly great value for money and our teachers are second to none.
Increasing bad behaviour in public and in particular from our politicians, sports people or other leaders can also give “permission” for us all to behave in this way. What was once frowned upon becomes normative.

I raise this so that we can all ensure that our dealings with one another – staff, parents and students are all as respectful and polite as possible. That is not to say there will not be disagreement, however, the manner in which we deal with conflict will be the true measure of us as a civilised community.

David Hansen

Deputy Principal – Head of West Campus