From the Principal - Edition 2 - 2023

Since the start of the year there has been a continuous trickle of media reports around the teacher shortage that is gripping NSW and Victoria. There will be an impact in South Australia, it is just a matter of when. Some of this is the fallout of the pandemic, but some of it relates to teachers being prevented from doing their core job. This is due to educational institutions being asked to ‘teach’ more and more life skills, rather than teach the academic content the curriculum demands.

Just this week, it was reported that a recent survey of 5500 teachers revealed that 70% believed that the public did not respect them and that between 30% and 50% of teachers walk away from the profession in the first five years of their job.

At Westminster, we strive to be a school of choice for excellent educators by identifying, attracting, appreciating and investing in the best staff available. We must also collectively ensure all members of our community feel respected. As parents and caregivers, we must be mindful that we are not living vicariously through our children. We must avoid the temptation to become ‘lawnmower parents’, chopping down anything in the way of what we perceive to be our children’s happiness. This course of action completely prevents our children from engaging in what Child Psychologist Donna Cross would call ‘anxiety immunisation’.

Instead, as parents/caregivers, we should allow our children to suffer a degree of hardship, failure, anxiety and depression, so they develop the resilience and skills to handle these impositions. Just as we immunise them against communicable diseases, we must immunise against the greatest illnesses many of our children will face, which are likely to be cognitive, not physical. Likewise, when we listen to our children, we must check that we are removing their perception filter of events, while we do our best to avoid using our own filter on the same. We can all be guilty of placing perception filters on events that diminish our responsibility or involvement.

As a School, we strive to provide all students at Westminster with the very best holistic education that we can - an education that helps our students throughout their lives. For this reason, our opportunities to learn extend well beyond the classroom. Westventure, WestQuest and co-curricular activities are examples of opportunities to learn and develop an ‘anxiety immunity’. Full engagement in these opportunities will provide a complete education. We must help children grasp the opportunities that dress in overalls and disguise themselves as hardwork.

This week, we made another major staffing announcement. As we have shared with staff, students and parents and caregivers across the School earlier this week, our Head of Preparatory School Grant Bock has confirmed he will leave this position when his contracted tenure concludes in June 2023. In referring to the benefits of helping students extend their learning and take up opportunities beyond the classroom, Grant is a leading example of a Westminster educator who has helped thousands of students in their personal journeys of growth and development. Having first started at Westminster in 1996 and spent nearly 18 years as Head of Preparatory School, Grant has been a driving force in helping Westminster students gain a holistic education in preparation for their transition into secondary education.

Grant has led our primary cohorts with great compassion, care and warmth and always been a fantastic ambassador for the School. When he leaves the Head of Preparatory School role, Grant will transfer his wealth of Westminster knowledge and experience to a position in our Enrolments Team. We will look to celebrate Grant’s time as Head of Preparatory School at an event later this year.

Simon Shepherd
Principal