Yearly Archives: 2011

John Bowlby, a British psychologist, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, noted that [a child's] early closeness and dependency on the mother, or attachment figure, provides not only physical protection but also a psychological sense of security for the child. Bowlby observed infants’ reactions to separation from the mother, or attachment figure, and concluded that the child’s ability to eventually leave the mother, and become independent, was deeply influenced by this initial dependency. Good attachment gives the child a sense of having a secure base, and with a secure base, the child feels supported enough emotionally to be able to gradually move away from the close proximity of mother and explore the world around her. The child can then grow in self-confidence and self-competence which in turn will allow her to form relationships with other people.

The Director of the Centre for Professional Practice discusses the seeking of wisdom through deep listening and careful observation. http://www.bggs.qld.edu.au/?p=8974

I lived in very close proximity to the tsunami-affected area of Japan for twelve months last year, so upon news of the earthquake and tsunami tragedies, I anxiously awaited any type of correspondence from friends in my Japanese community. Emails slowly began to filter through, and read alongside news reports and footage, it was clear that the response echoed across the nation to their devastating situation was the underlying ethos of “determination and perseverance” and “strength and courage”. These idiomatic expressions are typical in the Japanese culture but perhaps are not dissimilar to our own Australian cultural sentiments of mates helping mates – getting in there, and having a go.

The Director of Post Secondary Planning talks from personal experience about of the importance of "entering the arena", rather than to focussing on success or fearing failure.

From the Director of Humanities First term studies in History for Year 10 students were devoted to a unit concerning Australia’s involvement in World War I. This unit which was new to the Junior Humanities Curriculum aroused such interest that one class, 10C, asked their teacher Ms Boyle if they could present a special ANZAC Day commemoration on the last full School Assembly of the term. Using the example of Australia’s youngest soldier Private James Martin from Melbourne, the class focused on very personal and individual narratives to tell the story of Australia’s involvement in the Great War. James, we were told, was 14 years and 3 months when he defied his parents and signed up to go on what he expected to be an exciting adventure. This boy, who was the same age as the average Year 10 student, perhaps mercifully didn’t make it to the battlefield but died of typhoid fever on board a…

How parents can help their teenagers make good decisions From the Head of Beanland House In the 5th century BC, Plato wrote, We know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being formed and the desired impression is more readily taken… Shall we just carelessly allow children to hear any casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they are grown up? (The Republic) On Tuesday 29 March 2011, we again welcomed to the School Mr Paul Dillon, an expert in the field of drug education for twenty-five years and founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA). Focusing in particular on the problems associated…

From the Director of Differentiated Studies In most classes assessment for the term is now complete and all concerned (students, parents and teachers) are probably breathing a collective sigh of relief as those many stressful hours of preparation and study are now over... at least for a few weeks. Holidays await with the promise of opportunities to relax, to recharge and to forget, but is that what we really want to have happen? Learning does not end with the completion of a test or an assignment — in fact this is just the beginning. Where to from here? One element of assessment is, of course, judgement of performance but, perhaps more importantly, it helps teachers to guide students, to shape planning of future units and to inform learning. At this critical point in the year, both teacher and student have an invaluable opportunity to review the outcomes of the term. There is time to reflect on…

From the Head of O'Connor House and Year 8 Co-ordinator In 2004, the Howard government initiated a programme designed to ensure that all children in Australian Schools would be educated in a common set of agreed values — hence Values Education in Australian Schools was born. This $29.7 million commitment was always going to arouse contention by the mere fact that it seemed predicated on an assumption that schools were devoid of values before this programme. To some, this was nothing more than an expensive poster campaign, a mere list of character traits peddled to apparently values-free students in a values-free education system; to others it was yet another government imposed hoop for schools and educators to jump through. Now in 2011 it would seem that this values push has dropped off the political radar; the posters have come down from classroom walls and the discussion has faded. Where then does this leave values education and…