From the Executive

No doubt many students will be looking forward to the upcoming Term 2 holidays and with the easing of restrictions, more opportunities to relax and enjoy activities that were put on hold due to the recent lockdowns. It has been very unsettling for everyone with the stop-start nature of one moment engaging in a full day of school on campus - with all the usual activities taking place, to returning to remote learning at short notice. Thank you to the students and parents for facilitating the move back and forth throughout the first half of the year.  Also thank you to the teachers, who in some circumstances, were going from a face to face class and then to finding a quiet place for the next period, to conduct a lesson online.

We continue on with a character strength of the week - Honesty, strategically placed in the last week of term for the students to reflect on their recent results.

“I am honest to myself and to others, I try to present myself and my reactions accurately to each person, and I take responsibility for my actions.”

As always we encourage the students to take responsibility for their learning, to seek help and guidance when needed and to always strive to be and do better with everything they take on at school. We draw on the words of St Eugene De Mazenod with the following College guiding principle “Be a burning flame, not a smouldering wick”. This guiding principle, which is the focus for Year 10 students, serves to light the fire inside our students, fostering a burning desire to achieve academic excellence and to cultivate their abilities to the fullest. We see education as a lifelong process of formation in the truth, not just a moment in time, encouraging our students to be the flame, continuously burning brightly and sharing their talents. Thank you to the students who have shared their talents during Semester 1 on the sporting field, as musicians, in the performing arts, the classrooms and giving generously to social justice and leadership initiatives.

During this term, we were pleased to have Professor Lea Waters conduct a parent seminar on our visible wellbeing approach at Mazenod. We continue to develop our staff in this area and the Professional Development Day on Monday 12th July is dedicated to the next module of the SEARCH framework which is Emotional Management. It was also great in the midst of lockdown to provide an excellent and well-attended seminar for parents conducted by David Kobler on the topic of “Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualised Society”. As we work in partnership in educating your sons, it is helpful to have parents supporting and understanding our approaches to wellbeing and tackling some of the issues facing young men.

Finally, the Term 2 break is also a good opportunity to ensure that your son is meeting the correct presentation standards by making arrangements with the uniform shop if requiring any new items and booking in for a much needed appropriate haircut.

Kind regards,

Mr Tim Ford

Deputy Principal - Students