Principal News
This Friday all SBSC staff will be undertaking a day of formation as part of the Accreditation program for people who work in Catholic schools in Tasmania. As a consequence, students have their last day of school in Term 2, today, Thursday 4 July.
The day is being facilitated by Sam Clear. Sam is a young Tasmanian and a product of Catholic education himself as a graduate of St Patrick’s College in Launceston. Concerned that the various ‘flavours’ of Christianity were diluting the work that Jesus had commissioned his followers to undertake, in 2006 Sam began a quest to seek unity of the various branches of Christianity. In addition to his prayer for one, Sam committed to walk around the world as a way to focus attention on encouraging the unity of Christians. His journey was documented by various media outlets and in 2013 Sam published his account of the journey in his book: walk4one. I was fortunate to participate in a two-day retreat that Sam facilitated for Principals in Tasmanian Independent Colleges and all of us found it inspiring and transformative. We have used Sam for some of our students’ Reflection Days, and I am pleased that our Coordinator of Ministry, Mr Gerry Peters, has been able to secure Sam for a day that offers the staff the same positive experience that I had.
The energy of the Cast of Chicago is building as they enter into the final stages of preparation for the show. I am seeing smiles on the faces of the three main mentors: Producer, Josie Emery, Musical Director, Gerry Peters; and Director, Michael Allen. This will be another performance that adds to our reputation of high quality and entertaining school production, that the College presents, so I encourage you to get in early, book your seats and invite your friends to do the same.
Again, I provide the last of the ‘New Patterns of Thinking’ for 2019. Next Term we will focus on reinforcing each of these patterns, as well as doing more on increasing awareness of what TEPs (Triggers for Extra Precaution) mean, and to encourage people to identify their PETs (Positive Emotional Tools) to help them when a TEP alerts them that they risk getting out of control.*
MyTERN (My Taking Emotional Responsibility Now), is such a powerful philosophy. From my own perspective, since adopting it I have found that it has helped my well-being when faced with difficult circumstances. And the beauty of it is its simplicity. All that we need to begin the journey to feeling more in control of our own lives is contained in my ‘blog’ this week:
Identify what may trigger my need for extra precaution;
Employ a positive emotional tool that works for you when alerted to a TEP;
Understand what being ‘out of control’ means (hurting others, ourselves, or things).
Train new patterns of thinking that recognise that we have control over how we choose to behave.
Resilience is staying strong when things are rough.
Finally, the driving analogy is an aid to understanding the MyTERN philosophy.
Frank Pisano
Principal
