It was wonderful to welcome our students back this week. To our new families joining us for the first time, welcome to the community; we are so glad you are here. We are certainly praying God’s peace and blessing on this new beginning.

It was great to start the year off with a wonderful swimming carnival and water play day, too. A thank you to all the staff and volunteers involved in making the day go so well and a massive congratulations to all our students who participated with passion and joy!

At our Commencement Assembly, I sought to encourage the students that just because something may seem impossible, it doesn't mean we don't seek to make it possible. Whether it is mastering a difficult subject, overcoming a fear, or navigating friendships, we want our school to be a place where "doing hard things" is seen as walking in the good things that God has planned for us. For those who were not able to make our opening assembly, I have included the transcript of my speech below. I pray it will encourage you to consider the role we get to play in our community supporting and encouraging our kids to find their purpose, embrace the "impossible," and become the people God created them to be.

Finally, for new and returning families, after some changes at the end of last year, I would like to share with you the RCC leadership team:

Deputy Principal & Acting Head of Primary: Lisa Weingarth

Head of Secondary: Adam Schouten

Leader of Secondary Student Welfare: Victoria Sami

Leader of Secondary Teaching & Learning: Leonie Bulmer

Leader of Primary Student Welfare: Lisa Sawras

Leader of Primary Teaching & Learning: Tiffany Chilcott

Coordinator of Student Leadership Development: Bianca Henning

Coordinator of Sport: Brad Gilmore

Coordinator of CAPA: Kerry-Lee Drew

If you would like to contact any one on this team, please call or email the School Office.

Good Tidings,

Jonno

Commencement Address 2026: The Art of the Impossible

Welcome back, everyone! And to our new students and families, welcome to the family. Before we dive right in, I’d like you to do an imagination exercise for me.

Could everyone just stop and think for a second? If you could have any superpower, I wonder what yours would be?

• Would it be flying?

• Super strength?

• The ability to travel through time?

• Maybe breathing underwater or running faster than the speed of light?

• Maybe it would be the ability to heal, or perhaps… invisibility.

Turn to the person beside you and tell them your number one pick…

Now, put your hand up if you believe that power could ever be real?

Well, for those doubters out there, I was reading an article the other day that blew my mind. It argued that we are not that far off. Science is actually close to making invisibility a reality. From people walking down the street to entire buildings, researchers are trying to find a way to make us invisible to sight, to sound, and even to earthquakes!

They have engineered things called "metamaterials" to help them realize this — a "cloak of invisibility," if you will. How crazy is it that the world you're growing up in doesn't just have Artificial Intelligence that will do all your jobs and thinking for you and self-driving cars so you never have to fight with your parents about learning to drive, but now it might even be able to make you invisible?

What are we supposed to do with that? Perhaps a new subject? Perhaps a new uniform? Definitely a new behaviour management system that would have to account for invisible students!

Interestingly enough, it wasn't any of these things that truly caught my attention however, the thing that amazed me most about the article wasn't the result or impact or mischievous capabilities.

It was that they've been doing this since 2003 at the university of Tokyo.

It was the 20 years of failing and going again, the never giving up to achieve the unthinkable.

I found it incredible that something as fantastical as invisibility was no longer just a comic book dream, but something people are actively trying to make a reality, And getting close to!

It got me thinking about us, RCC, about school. All the dreams and visions in this place and for this place; all the things people have hoped for and all the things we'd like to see, from a real swimming pool on campus to a fully functioning cafe, from an indoor hall for performing arts and music to no homework.

As I pondered I started to wonder what the Perfect School would look like?

If I asked, I wonder what you would say? What do you think makes a school "perfect,"? Go on, turn to that person beside you again and tell them the one thing that you think every school should have that would make it perfect.

For me, and I should have some idea, I've spent enough years of my life in school, the perfect school looks like this: it should be…

• A place that teaches and allows everyone to explore God's truths about who they are and the world around them.

• It should be a place full of mistakes and risks and learning.

• A place where you are challenged to grow.

• A place where doing hard things is seen as an awesome opportunity.

• A place where we understand that resistance and difficulty lead to strength.

• A place where there is deep trust between the teacher and the student and the student and the student no matter how different.

• A place that you genuinely want to come to every day.

• A place where you feel safe to be you.

• A place where you truly connect with the people around you.

• A place where you feel like you belong.

• A place where lunchtime is extended forever!

Psalm 25 speaks about schooling in an interesting kind of way, it focuses on the relationship between the teacher and the student, the Master and the Pilgrim if you will, it cries out for a place that can teach, learn, guide, and rescue, a place that teaches integrity and uprightness, a place where people strive to learn and live what is true, a place that can provide hope all day long, the psalmist says: “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

The problem is, we live in a world that has lots of less than perfect moments, lots of broken bits. We face hardships. We have obstacles to overcome just to get to school in the morning, let alone building this "perfect" environment. I think we do lots of these things quite well at RCC; creating a place like that is really difficult, maybe even feels impossible at times:

• impossible because of governing rules about what we can and can’t do, how much time to do it for and for how many years you have to!

• impossible because you can’t just take your favourite subjects.

• Impossible because being humble or trusting others is hard.

• impossible because Mr. Simmons understands that resistance leads to growth so he makes sure we do hard things!

So, what should we do? Give up? Stop trying? Go home and go back on holidays forever?

It’s kind of like those scientists with the crazy dream of invisibility.

Can you imagine the face of the first person who said, "I think I'm going to try to make invisibility real"? I’m sure his mate laughed at him. I’m sure he looked at him and said, "You’re serious?"

But here is the fact of the matter: Just because it seems impossible doesn't mean we don't seek to make it possible.

I wonder what the little things are in your life that at the moment that you think are impossible.

• Maybe you think Math is impossible.

• Maybe reading or writing feels impossible.

• Maybe playing an instrument or public speaking is impossible.

• Maybe doing hard things or making new friends feels impossible.

Unfortunately for your excuses, if invisibility is now becoming possible, then I'm pretty sure those other things are possible as well! As the lead researcher from the university of Tokyo said, "seemingly insurmountable barriers will continue to be overcome with more research." He said the key is to keep believing, keep pursuing the goal. Don’t give up.

So, my challenge to you this year is to realize that If we keep persisting and believing, not giving up when it is hard or tough or looks impossible, but, with God’s strength and love and grace by our side, so many things that we once thought impossible, become possible.

• With Him, you can do what He is calling you to do.

• With Him, you can pave a way that nobody has paved before.

• With Him, you can overcome that fear that says you can't speak publicly or you can't do the math.

Why? Because our God is in the business of doing impossible things like unconditional love, and forgiveness that frees us. If he can do that, surely he can help us grow and learn well.

As we’ve said before, God has plans for us; He has planned great things for us to do. He has formed us intentionally and put dreams in our hearts.

So, I want to encourage you. Your role this year is this: despite the obstacles, despite the mistakes, and despite how impossible it actually seems, don’t give up.

Find your person, find your believer. Find that teacher who says, "Yeah, let's make Math happen." Find that friend who says, "Yeah, let's make learning happen." Listen to your parents when they say you can! Believe, together, that if you keep pursuing the goal, if you keep seeking what God has for you, then maybe—just maybe—we can …

I know my challenge is to continue to help build a place for all of us that doesn't just educate us well and prepare us to contribute to our world, that doesn't just help us understand that God has a plan and a purpose for us but a place based on trust that leads to learning and hope that endures way beyond school.

The cool news? I've found my people who believe it's possible too. If you look around, you see parents and teachers who believe such a place is possible and are working together to make it happen here and now. That is why you are here.

So, welcome back, welcome to 2026. Welcome to a place where you will be encouraged to not give up, keep going, and rely on God’s strength to play your part in building a place that helps the impossible be possible.

Dates for your Diary