From the Principal

Mothers are awesome

On Mother’s Day I attended my son’s church and was greeted by a full-on celebration of mothers including the children’s church coming in to honour their mums through song and prayer.

The children went out and the Bible reading dramatically changed tone to Jesus' trial and crucifixion. I was perplexed. We had moved from loving cuddly mums to horrific death by torture. I could not see how they went together.

Of course, those smarter than me worked it out. Parenthood is about sacrifice. Mums willingly give up so much during pregnancy, for the sake of their unborn children. And then there are the poo years, the tantrum years, and the worrying that they will be safe. Mums do this with minimal complaint because love is what makes us human.

Jesus loved us so much he was willing to sacrifice so that we could be who we were created to be. Because the love that defines us as human is our small reflection of the love our God has for us.

Our culture tries to define love by how you feel

Neither example of love, above, is about how it makes the recipient feel. Jesus didn’t die for us to feel good, he died so we could experience the fullness of life. Mums don’t carry babies to make them feel good, they nurture their babies to give them the best start in life, often making sacrifices themselves. Putting good boundaries in place for toddlers and teens is not to make them feel good it is to teach them how to navigate challenges, learn right from wrong and build resilience so they can be all they were created to be.

In a paradox of life, those who have an easy life are less happy. We are beguiled by the lie that life is meant to be happy, and we are tempted to do whatever it takes to remove all our children’s challenges. But research consistently shows repeatedly that this damages our kids. We humans need challenges to grow to our full strength and personhood.

At Plenty Valley Christian College, we encourage students to take the age-appropriate level of responsibility for their learning and social development. This may involve some challenges, and we are there supporting them and cheering them on from the side-lines even when they would like us to solve the challenge for them.

Diversity

Our school is growing even more diverse. We love having students with different personalities and experiences. Our ethnic diversity is growing, and we want to acknowledge that the traditional western approach to some things doesn’t work for all our families all the time even if our attitude is a positive one.

I will soon be announcing some opportunities for our diverse families to come together to talk about how Plenty Valley Christian College can celebrate our cultural diversity more effectively.

Caffeinated drinks

We have noticed that caffeinated drinks disguised as hydrating drinks and designed to look attractive to children are making their way into the college. Some students are even convincing their parents that the drink is OK for them to bring to school. The label clearly indicates that these drinks are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Caffeinated drinks of any kind are not permitted to be bought to school or consumed at school by students under 15 years of age and we do not recommend them for any students.

Another Year 5 class starting next year

We are extremely excited to be planning for a third Year 5 class for next year. With the demand for places in primary we can start our third stream in 2024. Then in 2025 we will have three Year 5 and three Year 6 classes. We want you to be aware that this will also mean that in 2026 there will be limited spaces in Year 7, as we will continue to have three streams in secondary. If you or any your friends are thinking about enrolling children please consider these changes.

Parent Teacher Conferences

We have met to review the performance of our new parent teacher conference software. Other than the major glitch it seems to have worked as expected. There are some things we will change next time that will help parents understand the process better and once we are all used to it, we are confident this will be a great step forward for families and staff.

Unauthorised social media

Occasionally groups set up social media groups that are loosely attached to the college but are not actually official groups. An example may be a group started by students in a particular class or year level. Please be aware that the college has no control over these groups, and you should monitor your children’s involvement in them.

Support for Christian schools

It seems the media loves running stories which negatively reference private schools. Perhaps there are readers who think that the one-third of Australian children who attend private schools or Christian schools think they are better than their children who attend government schools. Negative stories seem to sell papers.

Recently Christian schools have been in the cross hairs. You may have read that most Australians believe Christian schools should not be able to consider an applicant's faith when employing staff. However, in surveys it matters how you ask the question. Polling by the Australian Association of Christian Schools indicate that 75% of Australians support the right of a religious school to employ teachers and other staff who support the clearly stated values and beliefs of the school. This goes up to 90% for parents of children attending a faith-based school.

Most Australians recognise that organisations can only maintain their integrity if like-minded people are the core of that organisation.

If you would like to know more about the current challenges for Christian schools or express your support for Christian schools visit the My Christian School website.

John Metcalfe

Principal

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