Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care

Helping Our Students Learn

‘We have undergone a cultural change that focuses on what we don’t have, rather than what we do.’

Parents often ask what they can do to help their student achieve to the best of their ability at school. As with many other parents they feel frustrated that they are only able to give limited aid during secondary studies. Learning has changed since we were at school. Where once rote learning was the be all and end all, now students are expected to master skills, competencies, processes and apply knowledge in diverse and changing situations. Where once pen and book were the materials for learning, now there are information and digital technologies.  And once when purchasing a set of encyclopaedias could provide the answers that many sought now there seem to be no concrete or reliable sources of information on the world wide web. This leaves many of us feeling inadequate and unsupportive in these crucial years of learning.

But on reflection, these factors are not the most important items that impact a student’s learning. In my 35 years of teaching the one thing that I have come to realise is that attitude is everything. Students that know how to work, how to struggle and strive are the ones who ultimately succeed. In my view, this is where parents can have the most impact on their students: instilling a strong work ethic and developing the understanding that success requires persistence and hard work.

Unfortunately, such values are often contrary to our materialistic culture. We are constantly urged to buy more, have more and own more of everything. Advertising tells us that we can have this with little or no effort. Our lives are surrounded by labour saving devices designed to take the struggle and effort out of living. It's no wonder that young people find learning difficult and seemingly pointless because it is antithetical to everything they have been exposed to in their lives.

An interesting paradox is that having nothing to do is actually more debilitating than having lots to do in our lives. Purpose gives our lives direction. It is the purpose that gets us up in the morning and drives us to achieve, to accomplish. To be purposeless is to be ‘less’ of a person. Work and endeavour give our lives meaning and momentum. One of the most important qualities that we strive to instil in the students is that the reward is in the labour itself more than the end result. It is how we get to the end point that matters just as much as reaching it.    

Home is the most powerful site of learning and the most powerful lesson students can learn is the value of hard work, persistence and the worth of struggle. These qualities, more than anything, will enable a student to achieve to the best of their ability at school and in life. 

Mick Larkin - Assistant Principal - Pastoral