OPEN AFTERNOON / EVENING 2019

This coming Monday we have one of the most important evenings for the College in terms of highlighting ‘who we are’ to potential students and families of the future. Current students have been invited to take part in the evening to be involved in displays, dance routines, presentations and the like or to act as Tour Guides.

We are hopeful we will have a large number of visitors and prospective students (current Year 5 and 6 students from around the Macarthur)

A BBQ will be provided on the night and all are welcome to attend. We encourage you to get the message out to neighbours, friends and family about the night.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS’ WEEK

Not only is our Open Night a key feature of Catholic Schools’ Week, but we also have our Diocesan Education Mass later in the week on Thursday. The Mass will be held at the Twin Cathedral at Fairy Meadow on Thursday 7 March at 6.30pm.

2018 HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE HIGH ACHIEVERS RECEPTION

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Camden Mayoral Reception for the 2018 High Achievers at Camden Civic Centre.

Camden State MP, Mr Chris Patterson spoke on the night and a number of Camden

 Council dignitaries and significant people from the local area attended the night giving their respects to the talented group of students who achieved well in last year’s HSC.

It was a great shame that the night coincided with a number of university events and therefore, only 3 of our 40 students who live in the ‘Camden’ Council area could be recognised. However, to have 40 students receive awards is further testimony to the quality of the outgoing Year 12 2018 Year Group.

CEO WELCOME DINNER

Last night, Mrs Foldes and I had the pleasure of attending the Wollongong Catholic Education Office’s Welcome Dinner for staff new to teaching and/or new to the Diocese (since March 2018).

Magdalene had six ‘new’ staff attend the dinner: Ms Andrea Blok, Mr Chris Power, Miss Kathleen Angelopoulos, Miss Sarah Manzin, Mrs Lauren Brody and Mr Kip Veness. We are blessed to have such quality teachers join our community and we hope that they have settled into our community.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

In coming weeks I will be recommending various books either with a focus on quality parenting and/or student learning.

In this newsletter, I would strongly recommend Celia Lashlie’s He’ll Be Ok: Growing Gorgeous Boys Into Good Men.

The author brings much experience to this work having been a mother of teenage boys, a prison warden and a consultant to principals.

Lashlie presents a viewpoint about the vital role that fathers need to play in their sons’ lives, and in a confronting way posits that “over-mothering” (or overparenting”) and not allowing sons to grow, may actually hold children back. She provides useful advice to families with multiple parents and/or carers and to sole parents and especially families where a male role model is not around.

In one extract from the book, Lashlie suggests, from her experience with boys, that schools need to provide boys … “time to think, time to process new-found emotions and time to make decisions about their future. They need time to just be, to move freely between boyhood and manhood, returning several times, in the initial flush of adolescence, to a state of boyhood where they’ll spend time playing while reflecting at a deeper (and often completely invisible) level on the fact that they’re in the process of leaving that boyhood behind.”

As part of “The Good Man Project” Lashlie does not preach or dictate her views on growing boys into good men but rather provides a reflective lens to consider parenting, childhood and the teenage years.

Lashlie believes we really need to understand a boy’s pragmatism (i.e. “what’s in it for me, what’s the pay-off, why should I do this?”) and connect with them and their decision-making processes. As such, she talks about the dangers of ‘nagging’ and tries to emphasise building resilience: “When he knows it’s up to him and only him whether something is done or doesn’t get done, when he’s able to link action with consequences, then he’ll begin to make good decisions for himself.”

Therefore, for those looking for a reflective writer especially on how to raise boys well, look no further than this book. It is an easy read; each chapter has a summary page and I found it invaluable for my own self-reflection as an educator and parent.

GEORGE PELL VERDICT

Given the significance of the events earlier this week, it would be remiss of me to not direct you to the Catholic Education Office Website: https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/news/ to receive further clarity and confidence regarding our Diocesan stance.