Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care
Rules for Living
In Term 4 last year both the students and staff embarked on a process of creating three simple rules for living in the McCarthy community. The consultation process produced our three ‘R’s’:
- Ready – to learn
- Respectful – in our relationships
- Responsible – in our decisions and actions.
The three words, ‘Ready, Respectful, Responsible’ clearly and succinctly articulate what is expected of a student at McCarthy.
Each classroom seeks to create a learning team with teacher and students working together to create a productive learning environment – typified by calm classrooms and meaningful learning. Students who have unproductive behaviours are invited back into the learning teams but should their actions persist they will be excluded until they are able to adjust their actions. Learning is an imperative and everyone has the right to learn in a calm, safe and productive environment.
The staff then worked on three visible adult consistencies that we would commit to as a team in every lesson, every day of the year:
- We care – as reflected in the way we prepare meaningful learning experiences for all of our students in every lesson
- We are consistent – as reflected in the way we follow agreed practices, language and routines all of the time
- We are respectful – as reflected in the way we greet every student every lesson, highlight positives more than negatives, speak with calm, patience and concern no matter what the situation.
Previously I have written about how ideally schools should be restorative communities that are dedicated to reaffirming human good and redefining what it means to be human. In a Catholic school, the well-spring for our hope comes from our Christian faith and heritage.
Restorative communities provide individuals with the opportunity to explore how to live life well. Our community is inspired by the life of Jesus which urges us to live in right relationship with God and with our fellow human beings. When we enable our lives to be shaped by the narrative of Jesus, social transformation occurs. People begin to respond to the needs of others rather than focusing on self-centredness.
Our challenge as a College is to balance our institutional requirements such as being financially responsible or meeting Work Health and Safety regulations and legal obligations for delivering NESA mandated curriculum as well as being a community that offers hope and a purposeful and meaningful sense of connection for young people. This is our work. Our Rules for Living provide such a framework as well as establishing aspirations that are envisioning a better world and ultimately a better self.
Mr Mick Larkin - Assistant Principal - Pastoral