From the Principal

The importance of listening

I was quite a young Deputy Principal. In my early ‘Deputy days’ I had the portfolio of managing student behaviour in a busy Catholic school. I think I assisted in resolving most issues reasonably well through having an active presence with students and staff. However, I made plenty of mistakes (and I still do).

My biggest mistake was sometimes being too hasty with making judgments and not giving individual parties sufficient time to resolve matters of conflict. Sixty years ago, marked the commencement of the Second Vatican Council, a turning point in the modernisation of the Catholic Church.

It also marked the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy initially met with his advisers in response to the Soviet Union installing missiles in Cuba thus threatening the world with nuclear war.

Kennedy’s first meeting is a lesson in good decision-making. He called together 12 advisers. His advisers spoke 285 times. The President spoke 66 times - mostly no longer than a sentence. The first 11 times he spoke he asked questions and listened to the answers. The first non-question from him was ‘Thank you’. He then asked 21 more questions - a total of 32 questions - before making a statement. His first statement to the meeting was a summary of the information that had been given to him. He then asked six more questions and listened to each answer. His 40th statement was ‘Well now, let’s decide what we ought to be doing.’ He asked nine more questions. He made four asides. His 54th statement was to ask that the meeting reconvene later in the evening. President Kennedy, the most powerful man in the world, facing a decision that could result in nuclear war, asked four times as many questions as he made statements. The only decision that he made was that they should have another meeting.

And if the Leader of the Free World could slow down, be curious, and seek the advice of others - so can members of school communities. There are good lessons here for the Principal, and all members of our community.

John XXIII Day celebrations

John XXIII Day is the culmination of Founders’ time at the College. The Founders are commemorated from 31 July, Feast of St Ignatius to 19 August, the anniversary of the establishment of the Loreto Sisters in Australia. The day is an opportunity for staff and students to share in a range of fun activities and College traditions, from Running of the Colonnades to the Alumni versus current students’ games in netball and football. All money raised from activities is donated to Mary Ward International and the Jesuit Mission.

Robert Henderson

Principal