Faith, Growth & the Teenage Years

There is an awful lot tied up in the concept of ‘Christian Education’. A simple phrase with a Tardis-like interpretation. As easy perhaps, to define and explain as ‘Parenting’. This is a snapshot of my efforts to capture its essence for parents at our recent Year 7 Information Night. 

In six years' time, which will go much faster than we think, this assemblage of 13 year olds, with their kaleidoscope of personalities and uncertainties, will find themselves driving, voting, dating, travelling, sitting in University Tutorials or staff lunchrooms discussing stuff. 

They are likely to be in settings without family or friends, trying to find acceptance with people who may think vastly differently - who might think Christianity is silly. And the cultural waters they swim in, with all the unspoken values, norms and approvals will often be in stark contrast to home and school. 

As parents, and to a lesser degree, as teachers, we have the task before God, to do the best we can in equipping kids to navigate that. (Good luck!) 

This means at some point between now and the end of Year 12, our students need to be able to work closely with others, to know how to respond if someone is insensitive, to have enough understanding of how things work to be able to speak wisely, informed by Scripture, into culture. 

We want them to have a heart of generosity and kindness, a faith that is hope filled, and to be able to flourish in a world of different values. One where they know who they are in Christ but understand they don’t know everything, and to meet difference with love rather than fear - defaulting to kindness before judgement. 

This guiderail induces us to ‘play the long game’ and influences much of what we try to do. Academically we want to pursue skill development over content knowledge. In terms of character, we want students to respond to difficulty with the uncomfortable hard yards of working through the issue when what they really want is instant rescue. Regarding faith, we want testing application that is relevant and provides hope in the complexities of their world and not merely simplistic theory.  

But being a teenager is not just about preparing for adulthood, it is also about being a teenager. And this is the second guiderail – often in tension with the first. We want our students to enjoy being a teen – to enjoy discovery and trying new things, testing ideas, exploring faith, making friends and importantly, feeling loved, valued, seen and safe. 

So, we spend time building connections with our students. As much as peers play an increasing role in adolescence, positive adult involvement is critical. Deeper conversations and effective modelling happen when the students know the adults around them, are for them. 

These two ideas guide much of what we do in the education of the whole person. The tension between nurture and stretching is challenging and we don’t always get the balance right, but this is the intent, and hopefully in part at least, why you have chosen DCC for your child.  

As we enter 2025, our hope for all Secondary students is that they would experience the care, advocacy, and love of all the adults in their life. That they would be pointed to Jesus and grow in the awareness of His love and from there, be emboldened to risk trying difficult things and deploying extravagant kindness.