It starts with a little...

When I was in Prep, our daily routine included a short rest after lunch. We chose a place on the floor, and we rested for a short time (it felt like hours as a 5-year-old, but it was probably 5 minutes). At the end of our rest time, the teacher would choose someone to be the ‘wake-up monitor’. Their special job was to walk around the room and gently tap people on the shoulder with a special soft toy. I can remember lying very still and desperately wanting to be chosen to be the ‘wake-up monitor’. And when that day finally came, I was so proud and took my important job very seriously!

Learning about responsibility starts in Prep as our littlest learners work together to take care of their classroom and resources. Next term, special roles will be introduced, providing students with lessons in being a responsible helper. As the years progress, greater responsibility for personal belongings, independence and making wise choices when interacting with friends are all part of the learning process. In Junior Primary, the little steps towards increased responsibility all point towards our Year 2 Aspiring Leaders Program, where our Year 2 students are given the opportunity to lead, to assist and to demonstrate responsibility to their peers and the younger students.

As our students move to Senior Primary, expectations rise, and we focus on the students developing greater responsibility for their learning and for the way they display the Fruit of the Spirit as they play and engage in community. Our Year 5 students are given a special responsibility of looking after a Prep Buddy – a role in which many are excelling, and of course our Year 6 cohort are all considered leaders of our Primary School – a responsibility that requires them to be positive role models as learners and friends every day.

In Luke 16, Jesus teaches his disciples about responsibility in the parable of the shrewd manager. At the end of the story, Jesus says “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Being a ‘wake-up monitor’ was a simple way of teaching me about responsibility as a 5-year-old. The role itself was not anything special in the big scheme of life, but it was the beginning of me learning that I could be a responsible helper. 

Our 5-year-olds at DCC also want to be helpers, to be responsible, and to be trusted with a little. Let's be champions of this and help each of them and every one of our Primary students to grow in independence and responsibility by giving them little things that they can do to help and, over time, see the little things become the big things as we prepare them for life.