From Br Steve Hogan fsc
Greetings,
I have always been a promotor of musicals and encourage you if not already done so to purchase your tickets for this year’s College Musical, Jersey Boys. It is incredible to see students grow in confidence and talent as they spend many hours rehearsing. Musicals often require us to do something beyond our comfort zone, on stage with people who have become friends and mates; it is a safe experience and an experience of hard work and teamwork, overcoming doubt and fear. Thank you to our staff who have been working hard behind the scenes over many months on this year’s musical: Director - Warren Flanagan; Music Director - Stef Furnari; Stage Manager - Simone Wampfler; Assistant Musical Director - Olivia Gauci; Costumes - Sue Waters and Cecelia Weinhart; Technical Director -Brad Turbot; Assistant Director - Tyler Thoroughgood; Performing Arts Coordinator - Mark Domars and their teams of helpers.
Teaching and learning is a partnership between home and school and successful achievement is influenced by the quality of this partnership. A quality partnership between teachers and parents is part of the custom and tradition at Oakhill College. I would like to thank all those parents who in their busy lives, manage to attend the parent-teacher interviews and numerous other information sharing meetings that the College provides in addition to sport and other co-curricular activities such as Debating, Chess, and Showcase events. Furthermore, thank you in advance to those who will attend the College Gala Day on Saturday 30th May. Your support is important and valued. Finally, I would like to share a resource from ‘Education World’ (www.educationworld.com ) that may help parents enhance learning at school. The ideas follow the alphabet and, in this Newsletter, I share E, F, G, and H.
E-Empathy is a person’s ability to identify and feel other’s concerns. Parents can help to develop this important virtue in many ways: Let you child know how pleased you feel when he or she behaves in a kind way; point out positive differences when children do kind acts no matter how small; when reading with your child, ask how people in the book feel in their situation; help you child identify how someone feels and then identify a way to help.
F-Failure. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln weathered many failures before he became President? When a child experiences failure – on a test, the field or court, or anywhere – acknowledge those feelings of frustration and disappointment. These are natural feelings. Do not try to minimize the situation because it does matter to your child. Help your child evaluate the cause for the failure and use whatever he or she has learned to create a new strategy and try and try again.
G-Grace means giving children what they need, not what they deserve. It means accepting kids as they are and understanding their feelings and obstacles. It also means that we provide the unconditional support our children need to make positive changes. Grace, however, must be balanced with accountability or we risk enabling children to excuse unacceptable behaviour or failure to achieve reasonable goals. If we balance grace with accountability, we let children know we expect them to grow and learn.
H-Homework provides practice, and it enables parents to know when a child is having difficulty with schoolwork. Parents can support a school’s homework policy by providing a ‘homework area’ that is well lit and free of distractions; setting a daily homework routine (some parents call it school-work); offering a snack or break time or using this as an incentive.
Don’t forget as Celia Lashlie in her book on boy’s education says, “boys overestimate their ability and underestimate the effort required to achieve it”.
Br Steve Hogan fsc
Principal
