Hi everyone,

Firstly I would like to inform you that our College Principal, Mrs Val Thomas is away on leave until 24 May. As you would be aware, Mrs Thomas was quite unwell during the last two weeks of Term 1 and returned to the College at the start of Term 2. Unfortunately she became ill again last week and after a short stay in hospital, has returned to rest and recuperate at home. The College community sends its love and best wishes to Mrs Thomas and her family and hope she continues to recover quickly.

As a result, we have had some changes to the Leadership Team, and they are as follows;

Ms Mel Cramp - Acting Assistant Principal
Mr Mick Ryan - Acting Leader of Students
Mr Dean Cartwirght - Acting Leader of Kennedy House

As a community we strive to provide a learning environment that supports the growth of every single student at the College. Part of this learning journey is the clarity around student expectations and the support of parents/carers in guiding their children in fulfilling these obligations. Three key areas are;

Attendance and arrival on time

The College commences at 8:45am with Homegroup. It is so important to start the day on time and I encourage our parent community to support this expectation and ensure your child/ren are onsite before 8:45am. This is also the expectation for any senior students who drive to the College each day.

Presentation of students

It is always important to ensure we adhere to the College expectations in regards to uniform and student presentation. Quite simply, College uniform Monday - Thursday and sports uniform on Friday. A reminder that boys need to have their hair length above their shirt collar and I apologise but there are no mullets here at Mater Dei. I really appreciate the continued support of our parents in supporting our student standards.

Attitude and Effort

I have always admired the general effort and attitude towards learning from the majority of our students and it is clearly the key differential between schools. Irrespective of academic abilities, attitude and effort are non negotiables and really create the substance on which young adults build their life upon. No matter how difficult or easy the task, the willingness to give your best effort is all that matters. I encourage all students and parents to embrace this context and help build their resilience and tolerance towards learning.

I would like to share a story based on the above expectations:

During my senior years of high school (many years ago), a new student arrived and we quickly became friends. I was a keen sportsman and mainly in the areas of rugby league and cricket. My new friend, however, had a keen interest in golf and I soon discovered that his commitment to attendance, presentation and effort would astound me.

During Year 11, I discovered that my friend was so passionate about golf that he would go to the golf club at 7.00am every morning Monday to Friday. He would practice, practice and practice every day. The surprising thing was he was never late to school and always presented himself perfectly.

My friend was not a high achieving student but you would never know it. His attitude towards classes was always excellent and he had a positive relationship with all his teachers. He would often comment that he had set himself goals to be the best he could be in any situation.

As young 17 year olds we enjoyed a great life, however my friends' influence was starting to rub off on me. I started to apply myself more to my school work and enjoyed the sense of accomplishment. He was pushing me to be the best I could be.

One day, I was playing golf with my mate and I asked ‘why do you commit to practicing and playing golf so much’?. He replied, ‘I want to be the best golfer I can be and only hard work, attitude and effort would help me get there.’ His golfing prowess was coming to the fore and he was winning many competitions and it was quite obvious he was a budding young golf star. In Year 12, his effort and attitude towards both golf and school remained consistent. He believed that nothing in life was certain and even though he wanted to be a career golfer he was determined to ensure his effort and attitude in school were just as high in case he needed to follow another career path. He would often say, “ attitude and effort cost you nothing”, words which resonated with me for life.

Well he was right, towards the end of Year 12 he won both the Australian and New Zealand Amateur Golf Championships at the age of 17. He was then awarded a Golf scholarship to the University of Houston. What an achievement all built on the back of effort, attitude, attendance and how he presented himself. He didn't need to sit the HSC as he already had accepted a scholarship but he still turned up for every exam and did the best he could. Never take anything for granted.

My friend's name is Steve Elkington, a champion bloke and a champion golfer. He made a career as a Professional Golfer and won the prestigious USA PGA Championship in 1995.

Never taking life for granted and always doing the best you can to better yourself.

**Did you know Steve Elkington is allergic to grass**

So every student can apply their own effort and attitude to achieve their own goals. They become non-negotiables, try your best and be consistent with your effort and attitude and see where that takes you.

I want to quickly mention Naplan which began this week. We are always intrigued by what the data can tell us and this is the primary focus of our Naplan approach. We are lucky to have our Leader of Innovation and Development, Ms Bianca Fonte as the person who oversees the Naplan delivery at the College. Please be assured that we are purely interested in the data to assist our analysis of what is working well with learning and to identify areas of improvement. Good luck to all our Year 7 and 9 students as they engage in the process over the next two weeks.

Finally I would like to thank our parents/carers for your partnership with our great College. We appreciate all that you do to support and ensure that we continue to have learning growth as our key focus in every classroom.

Have a great week,

Mr Daryl Lawrence | Acting Principal

"Mater Dei Matters"

Issue 7 · 13 May 2021

In this issue