From the College Principal

Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends of the St Gregory’s College Community,

It is quite amazing how time is flying by - we have now reached the midpoint of the 2020 academic year at St Gregory’s! It only seems like yesterday that I welcomed our new students and staff to the College for the year ahead and now half the year has passed! A reminder that the term officially ends on Friday 26 June at 3.05pm and resumes on Monday 20 July. I look forward to all students being present at the College until the term ends, working hard and engaging in their learning. Parents and carers, please support the College in ensuring your child attends right up until the end of term and attends from the commencement of the new term. Thank you!

At the end of term, we need to turn our attention to the many students in our classes at St Gregory’s who have worked hard, participated fully, engaged with the teacher, supported their peers, and achieved their ‘personal best.’ I offer my congratulations to these students and implore all students to use the opportunities given to them at St Gregory’s to do their very best in the remaining terms ahead.

Every day, teachers at St Gregory’s positively affect the environment within which students learn by paying attention to each student’s sense of inclusion, their attitudes towards learning, the meaning they make of the curriculum, and their feelings of competence. Every day at St Gregory’s I witness how much difference one affirmative action by a teacher makes towards creating an inspiring learning environment for the students. Every day at St Gregory’s I witness the teachers on staff who ‘go above and beyond’ their designated duties to make a difference in the life of each student they interact with. What a wonderful environment we have to work in and for you to have your children educated in.

SUCCESS FOR OUR STUDENTS - Throughout next term I will be talking to students, staff and parents about ‘success for our students.’ I will use opportunities such as Year Assemblies and Parent Forums to continually emphasise that success for our students is multi-dimensional and that there are many contributing factors. Ultimately, what lies at the heart of education, is to make our students feel and experience success in a range of areas – academically, spiritually, culturally, through sport, etc.

I came across this article recently during some professional reading and I reflected that not much has changed from the past and we can continue to learn so much from our past. I am sure you will enjoy the points raised in the article!!

Secrets of Success - lessons from the past for the future

Acknowledgement: British novelist Amelia E. Barr (1831-1919)

People succeed because they take pains to succeed. Industry and patience are almost genius; and successful people are often more distinguished for resolution and perseverance than for unusual gifts. They make determination and unity of purpose more important than ability.
Success is the reward of those who "spurn delights and live laborious days”. We learn to do things by doing them. One of the great secrets of success is "pegging away”. No disappointment must discourage, and a run back must often be allowed, in order to take a longer leap forward.
No opposition must be taken to heart. Our enemies often help us more than our friends. Besides, a head-wind is better than no wind. Whoever got anywhere in a dead calm?
A fatal mistake is to imagine that success is some stroke of luck. This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Luck sells its wares; it never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for luck; or we go empty away.
We have been told, for centuries, to watch for opportunities, and to strike while the iron is hot. Very good; but I think better of Oliver Cromwell's amendment – "make the iron hot by striking it."
Everything good needs time. Don't do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.
Be orderly. Slatternly work is never good work. It is either affectation, or there is some radical defect in the intellect. I would distrust even the spiritual life of one whose methods and work were dirty, untidy, and without clearness and order.
I have had many letters from people who wanted all the rewards and honours, but success is no accident. Success demands the whole heart, the whole intellect, and the whole time.
Don't fail through defects of temper and over-sensitiveness at moments of trial. One of the great helps to success is to be cheerful; to go to work with a full sense of life; to be determined to put hindrances out of the way; to prevail over them and to get the mastery. Above all things else, be cheerful; there is no beatitude for the despairing.

I look forward to the many opportunities in Term 3 to explore with our community how we work with our student body to ensure they feel and experience success in the many areas they are involved in.

DEALING WITH COVID-19 – Over the past term, the College has continued to work with the various authorities to ensure that we are prepared for a confirmed, positive COVID-19 student, staff or community member. On Thursday 18 June, the College practised a necessary ‘Cease of Operations’ drill to ensure the students and staff at the College were familiar with the necessary operational procedures which would take place should a case of COVID-19 be confirmed in our community. It is essential that our students and staff know how to respond should a confirmed case of COVID-19 occur at the College.

Early next week, the College will be providing all parents and carers with a detailed set of steps for them to follow in the event of a confirmed COVID-19 case at the College.

Recently I received a beautiful email from Rosalie “Rosie’ Martin, a Speech Pathologist from Hobart. Here is her email – “Here’s a fabulous free downloadable social story about the challenges and experiences of this time of COVID-19. It can be downloaded from here. In early April, the group of speech pathologists I work with was looking for a suitable social story about the emerging social experiences of this time of COVID. We couldn’t find one with simple, direct language and emphasis on what to do to be calm. So, I wrote one – My Book About Coronavirus is what emerged. It’s beautifully illustrated by artist KB Song. It gently shares the messages of this time we have lived through and the tensions we still hold. In accessible language. It’s suitable for primary school children of all language levels. It’s suitable for high school children with lower-level language. It’s suitable for their families. It’s suitable for sharing in classrooms. It’s free and downloadable. KB Song and I produced it to put gentle support into the world. We’d love it if you might share it with your children and their teachers. With the parents of your school communities. And in your school newsletters. That’s what it was written for. Enormous thanks to all of you for all you have done. The devotion and efforts of educators has truly been seen through this time.”

TERM 3 – As we reach the final stages of Term 2, it is worth looking back on a term that has been very difficult in so many ways for the students, the staff and the parents. There is no doubt in my mind that I have ever experienced a school term in my career which has had so may ‘twists and turns.’ When we began Term 3 on Monday 27 April, we were thinking and planning for a whole term of online learning. Two weeks later we welcomed our Year 11 & 12 students back, gradually over the following weeks with students across Kindergarten to Year 10. Online learning gave way to a blend of online learning and face to face learning, and eventually by mid-term, back to full face to face learning!

We all learned many new things about ourselves during the online learning period, and we gained new perspectives and pedagogies that will continue to flourish in the years ahead.

We also learned that we yearned for socialisation and that the College was a much better place when we had the opportunity to mix, to socialise, to communicate face to face, and to enjoy each other’s company.

We can look back on Term 2 as the greatest learning curve we could possibly have, and now we can also look forward to the opportunities of a fresh start in Term 3 when we come back from the mid-year holidays on Monday 20 July.

There is no doubt our students have been disrupted and disoriented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts caused by the virus. This has been obvious this term as students have arrived back at the College and tried to re-start their year. While every attempt has been made by staff to ‘get students back on track’, the reality is that many students have found it pretty tough.

Term 3 represents a great opportunity for all our students to have a ‘fresh start.’ From Monday 20 July, every student across the College needs to return with a new mindset. This mindset must be positive and focus on the ‘1% improvements’ students can make every single day. Not major changes; not stunning improvements in class or in assessments – little changes every day which lead to positive growth.

We are all in this together – staff, students and parents! Let’s make sure that we set our students up for success – being organised; being punctual; listening and responding well in class; showing good manners to the teacher and fellow students; using time wisely and effectively; completing set work on time; being focussed on the 1% improvements each day.

Term 3 is our chance to turn the tide of a tumultuous year. Our students need to be active participants in the positive change process. Please assist them in every way you can.

THANK YOU – Over the past three weeks during my knee replacement surgery and rehabilitation, Mr Paul Brooks and Mr Joel Weekes have led the College with distinction. Mr Brooks as Acting College Principal, and Mr Weekes as Acting Deputy Principal, have performed their responsibilities with great dedication and commitment. I take this opportunity to thank them both for their outstanding work, and to thank the St Gregory’s community for supporting them in their roles.

I wish you God’s blessings always. Please stay safe, stay healthy and stay strong over the coming weeks. I hope your son / daughter enjoys a restful holiday.

May Mary, our Good Mother, Saint Marcellin Champagnat and Saint Gregory continue to guide us each day and inspire us on our journey together.

Lee MacMaster

College Principal (K-12)