Principal's message

Dear MGSC Community

This is the second last newsletter of the year and I thought that, rather than summarise the many activities and achievements of the last fortnight, I would talk about one of our core values which is “courage”.  

Staff and students launched into Headstart this week and everyone now has their thoughts focused on 2022.  There are no longer year 7 students in the school as they have graduated and are now undertaking their year 8 classes. Students at every year level are meeting new classmates and forming new friendships.  It is a time of personal growth for students as they are challenging themselves both academically and socially. This can feel a little unsettling for some students and they may be sharing these concerns with their parents when they go home each night. When students first attend their Headstart classes they may not know anyone.  But I can assure you that very soon they will discover just how resilient this experience makes them. 

Every challenge that we set ourselves and every challenge thrown our way will feel as if we are in free fall. But there is always something familiar that we can hold on to. It is a matter of looking for the familiar and building on existing strengths – that is what will gradually build resilience. So, as parents, carers or guardians, just listen and encourage your child to try to do one “uncomfortable” or “brave” thing each day.  It might be talking to someone that they have never met before or it might be sharing their opinions with their class when they are feeling self-conscious or shy. These are the acts of courage that can be built on in the future.

As a parent, I always took this approach when one of my daughters would come home on the first or second day in a new year level.  If they said they didn’t have any friends in class, then I would ask them a little more and ask them if they thought that other students might be feeling the same way? Did every student in the class know someone? 

Being able to project your thoughts forward to consider the feelings and experience of others enables us to show and grow empathy. When you think about it there are usually approximately 200 students in a year level that are going through the same experience as they are. I would workshop with my daughters how to take small steps towards building their confidence.  It sometimes took a couple of weeks for them to feel comfortable in their new classes but in the end they settled in and felt that they owned that personal growth.

At the end of Headstart I can say with confidence that each student will feel that they have challenged themselves and supported their classmates in settling into their next year level.  That is something to be really proud of.

Take care

Linda Brown