Term
2, Week 6 - Friday 5 June 2020
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Student Wellbeing
At Rostrevor College we recognise that positive learning outcomes and student wellbeing are not mutually
exclusive and respond by ensuring that our programs and practices encourage a positive sense of wellbeing,
respectful relationships, engagement in learning and personal best.
It is recognised that pastoral
care and academic progress are linked. The physical, emotional, cognitive and social elements of a person's
life cannot realistically be treated in isolation. What happens in one domain will affect what happens
in one or more of the others.
Leadership speaker and author, Sheila Bethel, has suggested in
her book, Making a Difference, that students "don't care how much you know, until they know
how much you care". Effective academic learning within a school context cannot be separated from
the exercise of effective pastoral care. Therefore, a commitment to excellence in academic performance
must be accompanied by a commitment to excellence in physical health, social competence and emotional
resilience.
We deliver a wonderful Pastoral Care Program but it is time for review, particularly
in light of one of the goals of our Strategic Priorities for Student Wellbeing and that is to "create
a safe and welcoming environment for every boy by reviewing our Pastoral Care Programs and procedures
to ensure that Rostrevor continues to lead in responding to student concerns and needs".
Over
the coming months the Wellbeing Team will conduct an audit of existing programs and practices, reviewing
literature and data from a range of surveys including student wellbeing and community satisfaction and
work with our Heads of House and other relevant staff to determine the crucial elements of a Rostrevor
Wellbeing Framework which will then drive what and how we deliver our Pastoral Care Program moving forward.
The framework will consist of an overarching vision, key elements, guiding principles and effective practices
to support the school community to build and maintain safety, positive relationships and wellbeing.
Building Character
"Parents can only give good advice or put them
on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."
Anne Frank
Why bother to develop a good character? Why be good? If we can't answer those
questions for our children or engage them in reflection that will help them arrive at solid answers, we're
going to have trouble getting them to care about character.
Good character is the key to self-respect,
to earning the respect of others, to building positive relationships, to a sense of fulfilment, to achievements
you can be proud of and to success in every area of life.
All human beings have a deep desire
to be happy. We should invite all young people to consider: What does it mean to be happy? What leads
to happinessand what does not?
Unless our children are challenged to think seriously about
such questions, many will adopt the media culture's definition of happiness: material comforts and pleasure.
If that becomes their definition of happiness, they won't see the point of developing character qualities
such as self-control, sacrifice, and service.
We should share with students what cross-cultural
research tells us about human happiness. The book, Cultivating Heart and Character, by Tony Devine
reports that cultures around the world affirm three life goals as sources of authentic happiness:
1. maturity of character becoming - the best person we can be;
2. loving relationships, such
as marriage and family;
3. contributing to society - making a positive difference in the lives of
others.
When we pursue these life goals, which all require leading a life of virtue, we are
living in harmony with our deepest selves. When we neglect or go against these goals, show bad character,
act unlovingly in our relationships, take from others without contributing to their good, we make ourselves
unhappy.
Especially when our children enter adolescence, they need to find a purpose for their
lives. Many teens who lack a sense of purpose, seek escape in drugs, alcohol, and endless consumption
of electronic media.
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They need help in resisting the seductions of a media culture that tells them
that life's purpose is maximising their pleasure.Even those teens who are working toward worthwhile near-term
goals (getting into university, attaining a good job) need a larger vision that will help to sustain them
in the face of life's inevitable disappointments and sufferings. Many people achieve their dreams and
find themselves asking, "is this all there is?"
By holding up the three universally
affirmed life goals - maturity of character, loving relationships, and making a difference, we can offer
our children a framework for living that can bring lasting fulfilment. For most of us, this won't be the
whole framework, we might add a relationship with God in this life and the next, but the three life goals
represent something that all world views can embrace, and all schools can teach.
US
Civil Rights Demonstrations
Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected
by the US riots, at a time of deep fracture and division as protests continue following the death of George
Floyd on Monday 25 May.
During a Mass last Sunday, 31 May, celebrating Pentecost, when Christians
believe the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus' apostles, Pope Francis called on the faithful to be bringers
of unity at a time when the world seems rife with division. In his homily, he drew from the gospels to
explain the differences among the twelve apostles. They "were from different backgrounds and social
contexts", and all of them "had different ideas and sensibilities", the Pope said.
"We, too, have our differences, for example: of opinions, choices, sensibilities", Francis
observed on Sunday, "but the temptation is always to fiercely defend our ideas, believing them to
be good for everybody and agreeing only with those who think as we do. This is a bad temptation that brings
division."
According to the Pontiff, "so much more" unites people than beliefs or morality.
"Our principle of unity is the Holy Spirit. He reminds us that first of all we are God's beloved children;
all equal, in this respect, and all different," he said.
Rostrevor College is so richly blessed
by having students and families from many different cultures and faith backgrounds and we must continue
to acknowledge and celebrate this. As an inclusive community (one of our EREA Touchstones), we must always
be mindful of the values of respect and empathy at this time.
We pray that the senseless violence
and destruction will stop and peace and order will be restored.
Frank Ranaldo
Deputy Principal - Dean of Students (R-12)
Glen Stuart Road and Kintyre Road Pick Up
and Drop Off
For the safety of all road users, but most importantly for the safety of our
students, it is important that parents and others responsible for picking up or dropping off boys, take
note of the Drop Off and Pick Up zones, No Parking zones and use of the 'Emu' Crossing.
Please
note the following:
Junior Years
* The Rostrevor
College Stepping Stones car park must only be used by families who utilise this service for their children.
* Rostrevor College parents are asked not to park in this location at any time during the day.
* We have received reports of some parents stopping in the middle of Kintyre Road and calling
for their son to cross, sometimes negotiating oncoming traffic. This practice is not only illegal but
extremely dangerous.
Middle and Senior Years
* Middle
and Senior Years families are to avoid using Kintyre Road for drop off or pick-up.
* Parents
must not drive on to the campus for drop off or pick up. The roadway joining Gate 1 (Glen Stuart Road)
and Gate 10 (Heather Avenue) is for student use only.
* Please note that the solid yellow line
by the curb on Glen Stuart Road alongside our Memorial Ovals signifies no standing/parking. We have received
numerous complaints from Adelaide Metro as buses are blocked from turning onto Glen Stuart Road from Morialta
Road due to the congestion by the roundabout. Please refer to the image here.
Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.
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Rolheiser Pentecost
Feeling restless, frustrated, out of sync? Perhaps we need Pentecost. The feast of Pentecost
celebrated last week is for every day suggests Ronald Rolheiser.
One of the reasons we're sometimes
deeply restless and frustrated is that our life is often out of sync with its proper spirit. We
haven't let Pentecost happen.

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Pentecost is part of a cycle of life that
has five moments: Good Friday, Easter, The Forty Days, Ascension, and Pentecost.We understand Pentecost
only when it is seen as the culmination of the other four moments.It works like this: on Good Friday,
life is lost; on Easter, new life is received; during the Forty Days, the disciples adjust to a new presence
of Jesus; at the Ascension, the disciples let go of the Jesus they once had; and at Pentecost, they receive
a new spirit for the life they are now living.
And that is the cycle too within our own lives.
We need, constantly, to accept our deaths, receive the new life that is then given us, grieve our losses,
let go of the old, and then receive the spirit for the actual life we are living. Pentecost is an
ongoing, lifelong mystery. We suffer many losses; loss of youth, loss of health, loss of loved ones,
loss of wholeness, and the loss of countless things that are precious to us. Yet, we are never dead.
We are always given new life. But if we are trying to live that new life with our former spirit,
we will find ourselves deeply out of sorts. We need Pentecost, daily, in our lives. It harmonises
our life with its proper spirit.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser OMI is president of the Oblate School
of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. His books are popular throughout the English-speaking world,
and his weekly column is carried by more than seventy newspapers worldwide.
Ric Sachse
APRIM
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Enrolment of siblings
As a reminder to our parent community, if you would like to enrol a sibling of a current student
please contact our Enrolments Officer on enrolments@rostrevor.sa.edu.au
or phone (08) 8364 8244. Specifically, if you are seeking a 2021 enrolment of a sibling, applications
should be being completed and submitted now. Further information can be found on the College website
'Enrolling at Rostrevor'.
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2020 Term
Dates
Term 1: Wednesday 29 January to Thursday 9 April 2020
Term 2: Tuesday 28 April to Wednesday 1 July 2020
Term 3: Monday 20 July to Friday 25 September
2020
Term 4: Monday 12 October to Friday 4 December 2020
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