PRINCIPAL'S PEN 

Academic Success - A Tolerance for Discomfort

Last Thursday the College held the Academic Awards Assembly for Semester 1. This special occasion showcased the talent and celebrated the successes we have at St Augustine’s. We saw such a broad spectrum of talent across arts, service, sport and, of course, academia. To achieve these high levels, we have to make sacrifices. We are familiar with phrases such “get out of our comfort zones” and as a school we used the catch phrase “get comfortable being uncomfortable” in a response to COVID.

Some authors refer to an ability to endure as "A tolerance for discomfort" which isa crucial aspect of learning and success.

An example of where this learning, this tolerance for discomfort can be seen and nurtured in our school is during camp week. In Week 4 Years 9, 10 and 11 will all be out for camps or on retreat. For the last three years I have had the pleasure of going on the Year 9 camp and my job has been to walk the Year 9s to the "camp out". 

It’s an eight kilometre walk with backpacks through bush and scrub. While I enjoy the walk, often a hike isn’t something boys look forward to with great enthusiasm. It can be hard work, hot, uncomfortable and out of their comfort zones. 

The idea of the walkout is to prepare boys for Year 10 camp. The Year 9s will make mistakes. I’ve seen boys bring backpacks that are too heavy, drop sleeping bags, forget their sleeping bags, not bring enough water, wear poor shoes, and forget their hats. Many errors are made. I even saw one boy carry his equipment out in garbage bags. This is despite a well-briefed description from their Head of Year on what the expectations are prior to the commencement of camp.

Considering the mistakes and challenges that occur, you may describe the walkout as a disaster. In contrast, it is a perfect learning experience. When we get to the camp out we have a general discussion about what we have learnt. It’s all the obvious: bring more water, don’t pack as much, don’t bring garbage bags. 

So how do camps relate to academic awards?

The answer is learning. We learn through mistakes, especially when our mistakes have consequences that provide us with discomfort. The Year 9 walkout is the perfect preparation for Year 10. Until you have had the experience yourself and made the errors that led to discomfort, your learning isn’t as deep. 

Cognitively, discomfort is critical for the learning process. Cognitive scientist Robert Bjork coined the term “desirable difficulty” to describe a learning task that is complex enough to demand a considerable, but not an unachievable, amount of effort in the process. Too little difficulty means the task will not result in a learning gain. Too much difficulty means the task is too hard and will result in overload, or an inability to learn. The desirable difficulty provides the discomfort we want all our boys to experience daily. Good learning requires you to think, think hard and think deeply. That feeling of unease when being tested or struggling with a task will allow you to develop greater control over your learning strategies, greater capacity to tolerate discomfort and regulate motivation, and greater confidence in being able to respond in these situations.

For our young men, this means they should do things that are difficult. For our parents, this means you can let your son make mistakes, don’t over protect.  Obviously, you have to spend the time and effort on the task and learn the fundamentals, but don’t be afraid of things that are hard. Embrace them. And when you make mistakes don’t blame, but instead ask why and learn from your mistakes. As an added benefit you will also find that your greatest feelings of accomplishment come when you overcome difficulty; not when you do something easy, not when you do something comfortable.

I would hazard a guess that the 185 boys that achieved academic awards at our recent assembly have put themselves into situations through their learning that requires difficulty, discomfort and sacrifice. They are to be congratulated on their achievements. We also recognise that many more of you also strive hard and embrace discomfort. 

Click on the image below to watch the Academic Awards Assembly - S1. 

Lavalla Stage 2

The Lavalla Stage 2 building is ready after a slight delay and will be fully occupied on Monday.  I thank the staff and the students for their patience. The facilities look fantastic. There are a few aspects to be completed, including some landscaping and signage at the front of the entrance way. We will have an official opening of the Lavalla Stage 2 building on Thursday of Week 5 where we can formally thank La Spina Constructions and Clarke and Prince Architects for their work on the new build. 

Sporting Success

Saints sporting teams have produced several outstanding performances in the last few weeks. On Wednesday of Week 1, our football team defeated Ryan Catholic College in the Bill Turner Cup and are now through to the final 16 schools in Australia – a remarkable achievement considering there are around 2000 secondary schools in this country. They now head to Brisbane and we wish them all the best. 

During the first weekend of the holidays the First XIII Rugby League team competed at the Confraternity Shield – a competition that caters for all the big independent and systemic Catholic schools in Queensland and placed sixth. Last Thursday they defeated Mareeba High and have topped their pool in the Aaron Payne Cup. These remarkable achievements reflect the rewards of hard work and training that these boys do. 

Also, during the holidays our boys finished second at the Townsville Interschool Mountain Biking Competition.

Such achievements in state-wide and national competitions are something we should never take for granted and are a strong testament to the work ethic and ability of these boys to embrace discomfort. 

Feedback Surveys

This year's Feedback Surveys (previously known as Satisfaction Surveys) are now available to parents and staff. It should take around 30 minutes to complete.

You will receive an email containing a link to the survey. It will expire on Friday 4 August.

We will use the information and opinions to help us further develop and refine all aspects of our operations and offerings. It also helps us gauge the wellbeing of our students, parents, and staff and to determine strategies to improve this. 

We look forward to receiving much useful data from the surveys and will report the broad results in due course.

Please take the opportunity to let us know what you think.