Dean of Students | Mr Damien Cuddihy

As a teacher, but more importantly as a father of two teenagers, I find developmental literature on children an interesting topic. Every time I read an article, I can always identify ideas that could be reconsidered in my own context. It’s often things we already know and believe in but for one reason or another they have fallen off our parenting radars for a period of time. Recently, I read an article from The Gottman Institute called, 10Insights of Remarkable Parents from a Family Therapist (foundhere.) There were two insights that stood out to me.

Firstly, kids will act like kids. ‘Immature behaviour is normal for immature human beings with immature brains’. The part of the brain responsible for reason, logic, and impulse control is not fully developed until a person reaches their early 20s. As parents, we need to be patient and supportive in order to guide our children when they experience times of struggle. The focus needs to be on the learning opportunities that present as a result of these actions.

The second interesting insight was the concept of ‘setting the overall goal to shape the child’s heart and not just their behaviour’. Central to values that underpin our Pastoral Care program at the College is the need to develop right relationships within our community that that have the values of empathy and compassion at its core. The College aims to promote these values through a range of programs and activities such as the House system, Immersions and Retreat programs at Maroon.

Whilst the Jacaranda’s haven’t started to bloom yet, it is that time of the term when assignments are being submitted and the focus quickly shifts to exam preparation. The boys need be effective with their time management over the coming weeks especially if they are participating in Term 3 co-curricular programs. We wish our Year 10 students well as they commence their various Immersion journeys on Monday. It’s one of the highlights of the year at Waterford and we look forward to sharing their experiences in the coming weeks.