We have come to the end of the busyness of Term 3
They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.
— Isaiah 44:4
We have come to the end of the busyness of Term 3. The students and the staff have earned a well-deserved spring break. There is much to celebrate at Bishop Druitt College despite our ‘new norm’.
The Year 12 students, our new 2020 Valedictorians, will move into their HSC obligations over the next few weeks. I would like to wish them well over this period. We have a wonderful group of students throughout what has been the most unusual Year 12 in many decades. I am confident they have prepared to their best ability and wish them every success. In only a matter of weeks, they will be BDC Alumni.
Our valedictorians were recognised and celebrated throughout the week with a number of events including a couple of retreat days, a House ‘get together’, our Valedictorians’ Assembly, and our whole school Guard of Honour. All of these events were, of course, modified but still had the emotion that you would expect. Our Year 12s will celebrate their senior formal on 13 November.
This week we have also celebrated our EYE (Express Yourself Everyone) Festival. This festival is a highlight in our calendar. I wish to thank all primary staff who were involved in this year’s modified program.
Advice for Term 4
At the time of writing the newsletter schools in NSW have not been informed of our COVID-19 requirements for Term 4. I do expect some of the conditions to be eased however we will start the term with the same processes that are currently in place. We are however starting to plan for day excursions instead of camps, and an increase in sporting activities.
The Fathering Project
Advice on communicating with boys
The following article is an extract from The Fathering Project and includes advice from Dr Bruce Robinson.
No matter what the circumstance, it is very important to keep the line of communication open with your son, so you can have a good idea of how they are travelling emotionally and mentally, who their friends are, how they are going at school, and when they need help.
Tips on communicating with your son:
- Build a comfort zone. Create a safe space for chats, this could be around the breakfast or dinner table, watching sport together, driving to and from a sports game, drop off or pick up to school, playing cards, walking the dog, cooking a BBQ, or taking a hike or surfing together.
- Make the first move. Don’t wait for your son, find a story to share with them that you want their opinion on – ask them a conformable question, one they will be interested in participating in.
- Listen, without judgment, be open. Don’t share your view first, as it sets a position for them to adhere to and then you lose their real voice or their real feelings on a certain issue. If you are a particularly gregarious father, they may find it hard to compete, so be sure to give them space, time, and listen – let them speak first!
- Ask curious open questions, don’t load the question with your expectations, and really seek their opinion on something – could be a new shirt, a tie, getting tickets to a sports game, a book to read, a movie to see, something in the headlines, or around their subject of interest.
- Don’t always give advice. Help your son come up with his own solution first before adding in some words of wisdom.
- Show you are listening and empathise. Say something like ‘I understand how you feel, or I remember when that happened to me, or that must have been pretty tough’…then you can expand to ask them if they need some guidance or help around the discussion.
- Let him know you take him seriously and help him to trust his own feelings.
- Stay calm, express your emotions respectfully, don’t get angry or cut them off, or speak over them, they need to know they can share their voice with you and you will not judge them.
- Send them a text message after the discussion – share an emoji, or send them a funny picture, with a short message of support. The family cat or dog is often the best conversation starters!
World Teachers’ Day - 30 October
I know I am getting in early this year but I would like to recognise World Teachers’ Day a little differently this year and need your help. Linked are a variety of card templates and I am hoping that you and your family will take a few minutes to write a card to a teacher or a support staff member at Bishop Druitt College that has made a difference to your child during this COVID experience. All cards can be sent to the college or dropped in at Student Services. The Wellbeing Team will be putting a special display together to celebrate the amazing work that all college staff have done this year.
Thankyou card template A - black and white (PDF, 201KB)
Thankyou card template A - colour (PDF, 203KB)
Thankyou card template B - black and white (PDF, 201KB)
Thankyou card template B - colour (PDF, 203KB)
New and Departing Families Information
The college has almost completed the enrolment process for 2021 and to avoid waiting lists in select year groups I would appreciate it if you could advise the school if you are going to withdraw your child at any stage in Term 4 this year. I also encourage families who have younger children that have not yet enrolled to complete their application as soon as possible for 2022. The Heads of School are currently working on classroom structures and staffing for 2021 and would appreciate a fuller picture to help with the decision making process.
Canteen update
Did you know our canteen goes through 2,400 plastic bottles of water every year? That's 2,400 plastic bottles into landfills and our waterways. Keeping our beaches, waterways and our environment free from single-use plastic is important to us. For this reason, our canteen will not be selling plastic bottles of water anymore. However, this does not mean we must go waterless! Please feel free to bring in your reusable bottles and fill them up at our convenient water refilling stations. These refilling stations are designed for reusable water bottles to be regularly refilled and are located at various spots on the campus grounds. Thank you for helping us contribute positively to our environment and happy refilling.
College Carpark Safety
It is very important that parents utilise the Kiss and Ride facility for parent pick-up and drop-off of students to and from the campus. There are a number of parents parking their vehicles in the top carparks, quickly dropping off their children and reversing back out again to leave. The top carparks are not designed for this sort of activity and recently this activity caused an accident where a parked vehicle was damaged by another car. This is not a safe option and endangers parents, staff and students. We have a duty of care to keep our community safe and I encourage all of our parents again to please use the Kiss and Ride when dropping off and picking up your children.
I wish all of our families a great break and we look forward to Term 4.
Nick Johnstone
Principal