As a Principal, you get to regularly practice your acting skills. A situation I have used that skill set fairly often is when one of my female staff comes to my office to glowingly tell me that they are pregnant! The thought going through my head is, ‘Bugger! I am going to lose this staff member for the next 6-12 months at least.’ At the same time I smile excitedly and gush with congratulations! The amount of time staff can access for Maternity Leave and now Paternity Leave has grown significantly over the years. Despite the dislocation that causes for us at school, it is a really good thing. Last week, I had a day listening to Nathan Wallis who is an expert in the field of ‘Brain Development’. He said that the impact that a good primary carer has on a child in the 1000 days from conception, is an extraordinarily accurate determinant on ‘success’ for that child in later life. I guess that is not rocket science but it's nice to know that the science backs up the experience. He had some great insights on brain development in adolescents. Wallis talks about the four parts of the brain. He has a great way to describe this simply and says that the first three of these, we share with a dog! The fourth, is all the things humans do that a dog can’t – read, analyse, have empathy, consider implications etc. The first three parts of the brain control survival, movement and emotions. Dogs have all of that. The frontal cortex is the complex part. That’s where complex decisions are made, good choices, language is housed etc. He went on to discuss that scientists now know a lot more about brains because in the 90’s they were able to study brains on living people, using MRI machines, rather than only via an autopsy on the brains of people who passed away. So much more information is now available with the ability to study a much larger subject pool. Scientists would now suggest that the human brain is fully developed, on average (and so many things can influence an average), in a person’s early 20’s. This is much later than we previously thought. Going further, it is, on average, earlier for girls than boys – early twenties for girls and mid to later 20s for boys. Wallis spoke to the group I was with about some of the things that good schools can do to assist adolescents in developing their frontal cortex – the place where we are better than dogs! Building positive relationships is crucial. Creating a space where patterns are predictable and safe. Encouraging empathy and compassion for others. I think, at Shalom, our House structure is a real positive in this. Our young people get the benefit of a Head of House and a Pastoral Care teacher who, generally, stay in contact with each student in their House and get to know them, their story and their family over their years at the College. We work hard here to make sure routines are familiar and predictable and, again through our Houses, we give young people the opportunity for practical empathy and compassion. Nathan Wallis has some really good information packaged in a very easy to understand way. I would encourage you to look at his website and click through a few of his short and entertaining video clips.

Teen Brain - Nathan Wallis

Afternoon Pick Ups – I know that there are a lot of parents, like me, who hate queuing but, if you choose to pick up your child in the afternoons, there are only two places to do that – the main car park and the Eggmolesse St carpark. Parents who use the car park in front of Administration, please line up in that space and please do not use the car parks beside the Sports Centre or the one designated for College staff nor on the side of Br Hogan Drive. There are all sorts of OH&S reasons for this and I sincerely ask for your cooperation in this area.

Shalom Easter Liturgy will be celebrated this Thursday during our College Assembly which will commence at 11.25am. Parents are welcome to join us for liturgy.

ANZAC Day will be celebrated on the Friday of Week 1 next term. Mr Robinson is again organising this event and I hope that Shalom will be really well represented again at the major local celebrations. Lest we forget. Link below to book in for participation - 

Anzac Day 2025 Registration

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
Daniel_McMahon@rok.catholic.edu.au