From the Head of Junior School

Over the past month, we have been running a leadership process for our Year 5 students ahead of appointing Junior School student leadership roles in 2024. The first stage involved students writing about what leadership means to them and why they would be the best candidate to be one of our Junior School Captains. Applicants also included examples of how they have demonstrated the School values of truth, respect and service, during their time at St Peter’s College as well as their character strengths and how they relate to student leadership.

It was wonderful to celebrate outstanding achievements of those who participated in ICAS, Oliphant Science Awards, AMEB, SAFTA and Robotics in last Friday’s Junior School Assembly.

It was also wonderful to enjoy such outstanding music at the Year 3 Concert in Week 3.

Following on from celebrating exceptional accomplishments we have taken time to reflect on what it looks like to be humble. Through our wellbeing programs, we reflect on our  VIA or Values in Action character strengths in view of and knowing ourselves; humility is one of these 24 character strengths we explore.

‘Humility means accurately evaluating your accomplishments. It’s easy to describe what humility is not — it is not bragging, not doing things in excess, not seeking the spotlight, not drawing attention to yourself, not viewing yourself as more special or important than others. On the other hand, it is not bowing to every wish or demand of another person and it is not being highly self-critical. Truly humble people think well of themselves and have a good sense of who they are, but they also are aware of their mistakes, gaps in their knowledge, and imperfections. Most importantly, they are content without being a centre of attention or getting praised for their accomplishments.’ VIA Institute on Character

Our students do amazing things. They have different strengths and that makes each of one of them who they are! I love that there are boys who can improvise on the xylophone in front of full house in Memorial Hall and that there are those of you who demonstrate care and initiative when given the responsibility of helping at the Prep to Year 2 Sports Day. There are boys who topped the state in the ICAS Writing and Reading Competition and the list could go on.

Our boys can be very proud of themselves and also need to recognise that you don’t need to tell others how good you are for others to recognise how special you are.

We still have four weeks of the term remaining. For some it may feel like we are close to the end of the year, and we can relax our behaviour and the effort we are putting into our schoolwork. Know that we are an exceptional community of learning, that our expectations remain high, and that we still have so much to achieve in the coming weeks.

Have a great weekend.

Jasmine Taylor
Head of Junior School

Important Upcoming Term 3 Events