Vice Principal News – 16 May 2019

Unconditional Respect – The foundation of Positive Learning Partnerships at St Francis Xavier College, much emphasis goes into the application of this towards all within the school community as being representative of our culture as one College.

When given to others gives them, in turn, permission to give respect back.

This may sound easy but the unconditional and consistent application of this paradigm requires extreme patience and dedication. The greater the challenge between individuals to apply this, the greater the need for it, essentially.

As the above acrostic highlights, at St Francis Xavier College Unconditional Respect:

• is required by both parties to bring it to the full;
• signifies that although issues may arise, each new interaction is approached as if it were a new beginning;
• requires us to take the time to listen to the context of another’s thoughts or situation;
• challenges us to get better at applying this through patience and consistent application;
• heralds that every situation has a context and to respectfully take the time to understand things from both sides is important;
• Unconditional Respect (UR) is not an inherent skill you are born with, it is a learned behaviour/attitude and therefore is a choice we make when dealing with others;
• College Principal Vincent J Feeney’s mantra is that every moment is educative, and this framework of UR highlights one of its many benefits and that is that we can all teach each other something about ourselves in the process

Jason Hibberd

Acting Vice Principal