Dean of Students | Mr Damien Cuddihy
Last Friday, the College had a fantastic community day at Tennyson for the Inter-House Track and Field Championships. Congratulations to Mahoney House as Track and Field Champions for 2021. Student engagement on the day was excellent, and again, the Seniors set the standard through their actions. Our thanks to Mr McGahan, Mr Kennedy and their respective teams for the organisation of the day. As always, the parent community supported the event through the running of the canteen and on behalf of the boys, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to those who assisted.
The Waterford community had their first opportunity as sub-senior leaders on Wednesday night at the Year 5 Orientation Evening. The Year 10s are the big buddies next year for our youngest students at the College. They led tours of the College and assisted their House Dean in running several activities during the afternoon to create a sense of community for the new House members. It was also wonderful to see our current Year 5s and 7s out in force at the GPS Track and Field Championships at QSAC on Tuesday afternoon.
Dr Paul Gibney presented to Year 9 parents during the week on Adolescent Boys, Parents and Families: Towards a Mature Masculinity. Paul has presented to our Year 9 cohorts for several years and provides a valuable insight into adolescent life. One aspect of the presentation focuses on embracing your son’s “second family” - his friendship group. This could include the boys in his House group, Rowing crew, Debating team or handball group. Further to this, I found the following reflection from Jordan Peterson (2018) particularly insightful.
The infant is dependent on his parents for almost everything he needs. The child – the successful child – can leave his parents, at least temporarily, and make friends. He gives up a little of himself to do that, but gains much in return. The successful adolescent must take that process to its logical conclusion. He has to leave his parents and become like everyone else. He has to integrate with the group so he can transcend his childhood dependency. Once integrated, the successful adult then must learn how to be just the right amount different from everyone else.