From the Leadership Team

Julia Padgett, Deputy Principal

Connecting with our 'passion'

'If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. Your passion will lead you right into your purpose.' - T.D. Jakes

After two years with restricted opportunities, it is fitting that our character trait for Semester 1 is 'passion'. 

Although it is true that many of us discovered new passions in lockdown (for me, it was baking sourdough bread), passions which required us to meet with others or go to a particular location were curtailed. 

This semester, we want everyone to get involved by trying new pursuits or reconnecting with their passions.  

At School, the conversations about passion have already begun. 

For instance, in our ELC each group has a passion tree. The leaves adorning the tree outline the passions of the students, their parents and teachers. I was pleased to be able to add my leaf to the three-year-old's tree, and I look forward to hearing about their discussions.  

At our first assemblies in the Junior and Senior Schools, students and teachers talked about what passion means to them and shared a little about their own passions. 

Last week, Principal Rob French and Vice Co-Captain Charlie Clancy got out and about to find out what our students are passionate about. Watch a clip of them here.

But what is passion? Passions are a personal, independent preference for a certain activity. They make us happy. Once a passion takes hold, individuals become intrinsically motivated to pursue their line of interest. Applying time and effort is not considered difficult as the sense of accomplishment and progress made is immensely rewarding. 

To create the conditions for passions to be developed, we encourage students to:

• Be open-minded – consider all opportunities, even those they may have not have an interest in.
• Be enthusiastic – have a zest for new opportunities and embrace them.
• Take risks - give new pursuits a go and try everything at least once.
• Persevere – especially if a new pursuit becomes difficult.

When students find their passion, the benefits include:

• Increased concentration and ability to fully focus on the task at hand.
• A sense of accomplishment by working through a task.
• Connecting with others who share their passion.

To support students in developing their passions, we have created an extensive co-curricular timetable. The timetables can be found on KCEE. There are clubs and interest groups across all subjects. Some of these take place at lunchtime and others before or after school.  

We know that not every opportunity is going to lead to a passion, but we do hope that students take full advantage of what is on offer and try as many as they can. 

STEAM and Library Centre Appeal

Next Tuesday 1 March, we will  launch our fundraising appeal to support the fit-out of our fantastic new STEAM and Library Centre currently under construction on the old Library site.

We welcome your involvement and are grateful for any support you can provide.

Look out for an email and other communications throughout the week.