From the Principal
A letter from Alan Lawson
Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Welcome back to school!
Come refreshed, come ready, come with gladness! If you are carrying any burdens, let the community of Southern Christian College support you. It is a new year, so let’s work together for new things - continuing and strengthening good things from last year and and taking the opportunity to identify, encourage and support necessary change and new opportunity this year.
I am so very excited about what God is doing in our school. Amidst the good things and hard things there is such a strong sense of hope and expectation coming from students, parents and staff. Our first assembly of the year was incredible. I asked the 76 new students to stand - that’s right, 76! That is more students than we had in the whole school when I started in 2007. We also had more new staff join us this year than we had in total back then! The staff and students are providing very positive feedback on how the year has begun, and especially for our new students and staff this is very encouraging.
Such a good start is only as good as long-term achievement. High hopes and positive expectations are only as good as their longer term fulfilment. Now the hard work begins! We are here for your children, so please - as I have said many times - keep in touch with your child’s teachers if anything becomes a negative challenge for them while at school. These issues could relate to learning, friendships or other areas of anxiety, loneliness, insecurity or bullying. Don’t always assume the school is aware of all your child’s feeling or experiences while at school. Our committed desire is to support them to the absolute best of our abilities throughout the year and we can only do that with your help.
Finally, we at SCC believe that each child is loved and gifted by God. One of our most important commitments is to help children discover these truths in reality - in their own experience, and to discover God’s wonderful plans and purposes for them. As I shared with the children at our first assembly, the following verse beautifully expresses our Lord’s heart for the children -
11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.
(Jeremiah 29:11-14)
May this be our experience as we align our steps with Jesus this year, so we can indeed “shout for joy to the Lord”!
Alan