Pastoral Care

At St Augustine’s College, we believe that best-practice pastoral care supports each student’s wellbeing.

Characteristics contributing to good pastoral care foster a sense of belonging and connectedness and provide a safe and secure environment. The size of St Augustine's means that all students are known well by their teachers, and the pastoral care develops their strengths and talents with positive social, academic, spiritual and emotional outcomes.

Each year level is under the guidance of a head of year. As well as being conversant with each student's curricular and co-curricular activities the head of year guides the year level through its many and varied activities and demands.

Pastoral care is most effective when there is a strong partnership between home and school. The homeroom teacher is the first point of contact between parents, students and the school. This involves clear, two-way communication, reminders and reinforcement both at home and at school of strategies to support student progress. Early intervention in identifying and addressing concerns is vital to the effectiveness  of pastoral care. Parents are encouraged to contact the College to discuss any matter relating to their son’s life at Saints. 

Pastoral care from the homeroom teacher encourages the development of genuine and effective relationships between each student and his teacher. Having daily contact with the student creates an atmosphere in the class where the boys feel safe and connected. Our students care for and about one another and truly bond as part of the Saints family. They do this by embracing the five Marist characteristics of presence, simplicity, family spirit, a love of our work and in the way of Mary. 

Additional support for our students is provided by the College’s pastoral care team and classroom teachers who foster a sense of belonging and enhance our student-centred approach.

We educate above all through being present to young men in ways that show that we care for them personally. We make time for them, getting to know each one individually. We seek to establish relationships with them, founded on love, which creates a climate for learning in an educational setting, for passing on values and for personal growth. In the Footsteps of Marcellin Champagnat, A Vision for Marist Education.

[feature-block]

“To bring up children properly, we must love them, and love them all equally”

Champagnat, Life, XXIII, p.538

[/feature-block]