Learning and Teaching News

This morning I had the joy of meeting and interviewing a family hopeful of securing a place for their son at our wonderful College. While Term 1 is always busy, and we can get caught up with all of the organisational requirements, this interview process is one of my favourite tasks. Why? It reinforces for me the incredible privilege that it is to be a part of this community. I thought I would share with you some of the things I was reminded of this morning.

Not surprisingly, the grounds and sport were mentioned as some of the reasons this particular 9-year-old was interested in an education at Marist College Ashgrove. His parents also said the good name of the College and its history. These things were mentioned in the first two minutes, but as we spoke, there were so many other factors that were coming in to play.

They wanted their son to be someone who grows up ‘defending the marginalised’ and who has a desire to be a positive influence on ‘every person, every decision and every policy’ that he touches. They want him to feel a responsibility to change the world for the better. Not a desire, not a preference, not a hope, but a responsibility. They knew that Viriliter Age meant exactly that.

They spoke of the Year Thirteen project that they had heard a little about and wanted to know more. They felt comforted that we were so proactive in supporting their boy in the transition into Year 7 and knew that he would be ok. Astounded is the only word I can think of to adequately describe their surprise that graduates were so keen to return. I reinforced with them that we expect the boys to be 100% Marist, 100% of the time, and believe them to be Marist for life.

They spoke of our policies on bullying and drug use and believed that ours were so comprehensive and clear compared to other schools they had researched and thought our zero-tolerance stance was clear.

They spoke of gentleness. This particular family were not Catholic, they openly admitted that they had no particular religious tradition but believed in God. They had no sense of what a religious order dedicated to Mary, our Good Mother, meant. When I described the concept of Strong Minds, Gentle Hearts, and of gentleness being a strength rather than a weakness, they knew that this College had just given them the words to describe their family philosophy.

They spoke of the importance of the boarders. They valued this difference in knowing boys from across the country and the globe and hearing stories of varied experiences. In the down-to-earth attitude of the country that permeates our culture. They stated that in making the College home to our boarders, it feels like home to all.

They only knew, distantly, of two boys who have graduated from Marist College Ashgrove. Two completely different young men. One was academic, one was not. One followed the rules, one struggled with this. One was very musical, one was not. One was very athletic, one was not. One had lots of friends, one only a few. One wanted to be involved in everything, the other, not so much. But each of them raved about the place that they loved, which helped them achieve the best they could, the home that they found here and the friends they had made for life.

We can take what we have for granted sometimes. It doesn’t hurt to be reminded.