Principals Blog - Term 1 Week 10

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

It is quite amazing that we are now in Week 10 of Term 1 and heading in to a well-earned holiday break. I look back on the past term and can see continued great growth in our College community, in the majority of our students, enormous contributions by our staff, together with wonderful support and encouragement by our parents. As the College Principal I am proud of our achievements over the past term and thankful to all who have contributed in any way to this wonderful community at St Andrew’s.

I take this opportunity at the end of the first term of the year to congratulate the students in our College who each and every day are making a difference by doing the best they can to improve academically. The ‘core business’ of the College centres on quality teaching and learning and this is enhanced when students work hard to achieve their potential and their goals. I love walking around the College campus and seeing the students actively involved in learning. We are all fortunate to be part of a great College where learning is valued and strong relationships are continually built between the students and the staff.  

Lent draws to a conclusion on the evening of Holy Thursday. We begin Holy Week (on Sunday 9 April) with the triumphal procession of Palm Sunday, when Christ entered Jerusalem and the people laid palms on the road before Him. Five days later, on Good Friday, some of those same people were likely among those who cried, "Crucify Him!"

We can learn a lot from their behaviour. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," and even as Lent draws to a close, we realise that, like those who called for Christ's crucifixion, we all too often slip and fall into sin. During these last few weeks of Lent and over the Easter period, especially during the Holy or Paschal Triduum, beginning with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, we should redouble our efforts with prayer and fasting, so that we may be worthy to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.

Easter is the greatest feast in the Christian calendar. On Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will join in liturgical services to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For Catholics, Easter Sunday comes at the end of the Lenten period, a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Through spiritual struggle and self-denial, we have prepared ourselves to die spiritually with Christ on Good Friday, the day of His Crucifixion, so that we can rise again with Him in new life on Easter Sunday.

Easter really is a time to think about your faith.  Not the seeing, but the believing. There’s a quote I love: ‘Faith is seeing light with your heart when your eyes see only darkness.’

Easter Liturgies / Masses

A reminder about Easter Liturgies / Masses in the Parish – Holy Thursday – Mass of the Lord’s Supper -7pm @ Holy Cross, Trinity Park; Good Friday – Stations of the Cross @ Freshwater – 9am; 10am @ Stratford; 11.30am @ Holy Cross, Trinity Park; Passion of the Lord @ Holy Cross, Trinity Park – 3pm; Easter Vigil Mass – 7pm @ Holy Cross, Trinity Park; Easter Sunday – 7am @ Freshwater; 8.30am @ Holy Cross; 10am @ St Andrew’s; and, 10.30am @ Stratford. 

Feedback

Once again during Term 2 I am asking parents and students to come and talk to me and to voice their opinions about how the College is going and what you would like to see further improved. I am calling this term – “Come and have a chat with Mr MacMaster about our College”. I urge you to find ten to fifteen minutes or longer to come and meet with me. I value your feedback and would love to have the chance to discuss the College with you. I will be available for meetings until 5.30pm each evening. Please make an appointment with Mrs Natalie Sproles – PA to the Principal on 40395200.  Alternatively, you are always welcome to call me at the College or to forward an email.

Catholic Education Awards

Nominations are now open for the 12th annual QCEC Spirit of Catholic Education (SOCE) Awards, and also the Cairns Diocese Docemus Awards, now in their 14th year. For the SOCE Awards, Catholic school communities (staff, students, parents) are encouraged to nominate individuals in the community (staff member, parent, clergy or volunteer) who are making an outstanding contribution to the life of the community in one of the following areas:

• Initiating a program and/or activity in response to a need;
• Leading and facilitating for change and improvement;
• Demonstrating excellence in their work;
• Engaging in exceptionally life-giving relationships with students, colleagues or other members of the school community or Catholic education agency;
• Advancing Reconciliation (for consideration for the Aunty Joan Hendriks Reconciliation Award).

The Docemus Awards acknowledge and celebrate the exceptional commitment, achievement and contribution to Catholic Education of staff and volunteers. The categories are:

• Primary teacher
• Secondary teacher
• School officer
• Leadership
• Volunteer supporter
• Lifelong contribution.

The SOCE Award nomination form can be used to nominate someone for EITHER OR BOTH Awards, by indicating on the cover sheet. Nominations (for both awards) close on Friday, May 12. Nomination forms are available from Mrs Natalie Sproles – PA to the Principal at the College. I encourage student, College Board, P&F and parent nominations for these prestigious awards.

ANZAC Services

 A reminder that on Tuesday 25 April, Anzac Day (Week 2 – Term 2), the College will join in the march at Stratford. The College will be looking for strong representation at the morning march at Stratford (arrive at 6.45am and assemble outside Stratford Post Office for a 7am start). It would be wonderful to have as many students as possible attend the Stratford March to show strong support for our fallen war veterans, their families and for our current military personnel who continue to serve and represent Australia, keeping us all safe.

The College will commemorate our tribute to Anzac Day with a special service at 11am on Monday 24 April. All students and staff will attend. Parents, carers and friends of the College are most welcome to attend this commemoration service also.

Professional Learning

I would like to highlight the outstanding work being done by our staff over the past term with the ‘professional learning teams’ (PLTs) initiative. As professionals, our teachers owe it to each other to learn with each other, ensuring collaboration of the highest level. Our PLTs are great vehicles for learning beyond the curriculum and contributing to the knowledge base at the College. It is great to witness staff delving into the ‘big questions’ and using these questions to drive research which will eventually lead to evidence-based implementation strategies at the College. We want staff ‘on the bus’, helping us achieve great things for the College and for each teacher as a professional educator.

Ambassadorial Visit

On Thursday  30 March Australia’s Ambassador-designate to Japan, Mr Richard Court AC, will be visiting Cairns and will visit St Andrew's and observe Japanese language lessons. Ambassador Court will be in Australia for the Global Heads of Mission Meeting (GHOMM) being held by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra from 27-29 March. As part of GHOMM, all Australian Heads of Mission are visiting the states and territories on 30 March to explain our work and listen to the perspectives of stakeholders. Ambassador Court will spend time with a Middle Years (Year 8) in Period 3, and have morning tea with staff and students.

Performing Arts Theatre

Our tender documents for the new Performing Arts Theatre (extension of M Block) have been finalised and made available for the building companies. This building will be a wonderful asset for the College and the community. It is anticipated that building of the College Performing Arts Theatre will commence in approximately two months and will be completed in mid-2018.

Attendance Awards

Congratulations to the large number of students across Prep to Year 12 who will achieve ‘Unbroken Attendance’ Awards for Term 1. All students who achieve this excellent record of attendance will be presented with a certificate for inclusion in their portfolio. Similarly, I congratulate all our Prep – 12 St Andrew’s Effort and Application award recipients for Term 1. It is wonderful to make awards to nearly 300 students across the College for their consistency of effort, application, punctuality, homework completion and diligence during Term 1.

What is a Good Learner?

At the end of Term 1, I thought the following reading summed up a great deal about the journey we are on in relation to educating young people. We all know that every student can learn, and this is the premise that we should work from every day. As parents and Carers, you make an enormous contribution as the ‘first and foremost’ educators of your child, and we as a school, play a very important role in unlocking learning and making learning accessible for all students. The part I like about the following reading is that it identifies what students need to do – their part in this partnership.

“I’ve seen lots of lists that identify the characteristics of good teachers. They’re great reminders of what we should aspire to be as teachers. I haven’t seen many corresponding lists that identify the characteristics of good learners. I decided to put one together and invite your input. This could be a list for our students or anybody who aspires to learn well.

Good learners are curious – They wonder about all sorts of things, often about things way beyond their areas of expertise. They love the discovery part of learning. Finding out about something they didn’t know satisfies them for the moment, but their curiosity is addictive.

Good learners pursue understanding diligently – A few things may come easily to learners but most knowledge arrives after effort, and good learners are willing to put in the time. They search out information—sometimes aspiring to find out everything that is known about something. They read, analyze, and evaluate the information they’ve found. They talk with others, read more, study more, and carry around what they don’t understand; thinking about it before they go to sleep, at the gym, on the way to work, and sometimes when they should be listening to others. Good learners are persistent. They don’t give up easily.

Good learners recognize that a lot of learning isn’t fun – That doesn’t change how much they love learning. When understanding finally comes, when they get it, when all the pieces fit together, that is one special thrill. But the journey to understanding generally isn’t all that exciting. Some learning tasks require boring repetition; others a mind-numbing attention to detail; still others periods of intense mental focus. Backs hurt, bottoms get tired, the clutter on the desk expands, the coffee tastes stale—no, most learning isn’t fun.

Failure frightens good learners, but they know it’s beneficial – It’s a part of learning that offers special opportunities that aren’t there when success comes quickly and without failure. In the presence of repeated failure and seeming futility, good learners carry on, confident that they’ll figure it out. When faced with a motor that resists repair, my live-in mechanic announces he has yet to meet a motor that can’t be fixed. Sometimes it ends up looking like a grudge match, man against the machine, with the man undeterred by how many different fixes don’t work. He’s frustrated but determined to find the one that will, all the while learning from those that don’t.

Good learners make knowledge their own – This is about making the new knowledge fit with what the learner already knows, not making it mean whatever the learner wants. Good learners change their knowledge structures in order to accommodate what they are learning. They use the new knowledge to tear down what’s poorly constructed, to finish what’s only partially built, and to create new additions. In the process, they build a bigger and better knowledge structure. It’s not enough to just take in new knowledge. It has to make sense, to connect in meaningful ways with what the learner already knows.

Good learners never run out of questions – There’s always more to know. Good learners are never satisfied with how much they know about anything. They are pulled around by questions—the ones they still can’t answer, or can only answer part way, or the ones without very good answers. Those questions follow them around like day follows night with the answer bringing daylight but the next question revealing the darkness.

Good learners share what they’ve learned – Knowledge is inert. Unless it’s passed on, knowledge is lost. Good learners are teachers committed to sharing with others what they’ve learned. They write about it, and talk about it. Good learners can explain what they know in ways that make sense to others. They aren’t trapped by specialized language. They can translate, paraphrase, and find examples that make what they know meaningful to other learners. They are connected to the knowledge passed on to them and committed to leaving what they’ve learned with others.

Good teachers model this kind of learning for their students, which makes me believe that “good learner” belongs on those lists of good teacher characteristics.

This article was featured on Faculty Focus and was written by Maryellen Weimer, PhD. It has been reprinted here with permission.

Interim Reports

Parents and carers of students in Years 6 – 12 will receive their Term 1 Interim Report during the upcoming holiday break. I hope you take the opportunity to sit with your son / daughter and discuss their progress and to set some goals for their education for the term ahead. I take this opportunity to congratulate the students who have reached their personal learning goals through their hard work and dedication. It is a credit to the students who work hard and value their learning opportunities. For the students who have not reached their goals, a fresh approach to learning in Term 2 may be required. A reminder that the Parent – Teacher – Student Interviews for all Middle Years and Senior Years students will be held on Tuesday 2 May from 3pm to 7pm at the College. Appointments with teachers can be book through the Parent Teacher Online portal. Please do not miss this opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and to help them set learning goals and intentions for the future.

Staff Movements

At the end of Term 1 we farewell Mr Kobus van Zyl from the College. Mr van Zyl has decided to move south to Canberra to take up a teaching appointment. We thank him for his time at the College and wish him every success in the future. Mr Craig Rankin will replace Mr van Zyl for the remainder of the year. A number of classes will require teacher timetable changes to accommodate this change.

I also take this opportunity to wish the following staff our very best wishes for their periods of leave in Term 2:- Mr Brad Greene; Mrs Leisa Henry; Mr Warren Galligan; Mr Michael Rayment; and, Mrs Ann Marie Fisher. God’s blessings for your time away from the College and we look forward to having these staff members back with us soon.

We also warmly welcome back to the College in Term 2 the following staff members: - Mrs Jane Scott (replacing Mrs Leisa Henry in Term 2); Mrs Jacqui Condon; and Mrs Rebecca Stokes.

I congratulate Mrs Kate White on her appointment as the Acting Deputy Principal – Head of Senior Years in Term 2, and Mr Blair Cutler on his appointment as Acting Assistant Principal – Administration in Term 2. Both these staff members are assets to the College and we will support them in their endeavours during Term 2.

A reminder that Term 1 classes conclude on Friday 31 March at 2.40pm for our Prep – Year 12 students. All students are expected to attend classes until the end of term. Term 2 classes commence on Tuesday 18 April. The ANZAC Day public holiday will be held on Tuesday 25 April.

I wish you God’s blessings always.