PRINCIPAL'S PEN

Hanging on two banners in Lennon Hall is an image of St Marcellin Champagnat with the motto "Strong Minds, Gentle Hearts" emblazoned across each. 

Last Saturday we held our interviews for Year 7, 2024 in Lennon Hall. In conversation with prospective students, I often refer to the banners and ask the boys I am interviewing what they think Strong Minds and Gentle Hearts means. In reference to strong minds there is always a range of answers from being smart or resilient or working hard at studies. But for gentle hearts, the answer is consistently "being kind to others". It is clear to me that young boys associate being gentle with being kind. Those I interviewed also saw a need for gentleness or kindness in our society. All could retell a story of when they recently had been kind to someone, and always it was someone in need.

I have read that "Strong Minds and Gentle Hearts", a very Marist motto, is a dichotomy as the heart and the mind could be described as opposites. A strong mind, as many of the young interviewees could articulate, does refer to academic prowess, but it also means being strong minded enough to resist temptation and to be disciplined. While being gentle of heart is not only about kindness but following your heart with love as a guide.

Two weeks ago, the Church began the season of Lent. Lent is a time of prayer, sacrifice and almsgiving. Pope Francis, in his message at the start of Lent, challenged us to listen to Jesus. He reminded us that Jesus speaks through others “especially in the faces and the stories of those who are in need”, and he proceeded to say, “listening to Christ often takes place in listening to our brothers and sisters…"

As we move to towards the conclusion of Lent, I feel the boys that I had the privilege of interviewing are on the right path, and as educators our responsibility is to harness the good that is inherent in our students. We need to be kind and create opportunities for our students to be kind. The best demonstration of this is when we, as Pope Francis has challenged us, listen to what Jesus wanted; that is to listen to others and help those in need. 

We do this tangibly at St Augustine’s through the MAPS appeal. Our homerooms are busy raising money with various activities ranging from thong-throwing competitions to selling chocolates. These funds go to very worthwhile causes. But listening and being kind to others in our immediate community is also very important.  

The interviews of prospective students always offer us a privileged insight into their hopes and aspirations and those of their families. I am always impressed with the good families whose values are aligned with those of St Augustine’s. The other striking comment that is often made when speaking to the parents is that they want their sons to grow into good young men. Our society needs good men who are gentle of heart, strong of mind and who listen to and help those in need.

NAPLAN 2023 

Our Years 7 and 9 boys sat  their Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) examinations this week from Wednesday to Friday. These nationwide exams are made up of four tests – reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. These assessments provide us with a snapshot of the progress of each student’s literacy and numeracy and in turn, enable us to plan their studies and address their ongoing learning needs into the future.

As part of the National School Reform Agreement, education ministers agreed to the introduction of proficiency standards into the future for individual student reports to parents - the four levels of achievement being: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs Additional Support. The report will continue to show the range of achievement for the middle 60% of students in Australia and a dot placement for your son’s outcomes in his assessments.