Weekes' Weekly News

Dear Sacred Heart Kew Families,

Welcome back to all school community members as the 2024 school year gets underway. I hope that all families were able to enjoy some quality holiday time, wherever you went, whatever you got up to. A special welcome to all our Prep and new children/families at Sacred Heart Kew. We are thrilled that you have joined us and look forward to getting to know you.

What’s your New Year’s resolution? Sorry, what is a New Year’s resolution?

According to a few sources...

A New Year's resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western World but also found in the Eastern World, in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behaviour, accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their behaviour at the beginning of a calendar year (Wikipedia)

‘a firm decision made on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day to do or refrain from doing something over the course of the coming year’ (Oxford Dictionary)

Over the years, we’ve all made at least one or two of these. You may have made one this year, or maybe it’s your year off? How many years have you made the same resolution?

Get fit?

Watch less Netflix?

Be healthier?

Wake earlier?

Get a better job or gain a promotion?

Read more?

Go to bed earlier?

Listen more?

Judge less?

Use my brain more?

I have to admit that I really struggle with making and sticking to new years resolutions, and in recent years, I’ve actually stopped making them. Call me lazy if you like, but instead of making a resolution that I will either forget about or fail to achieve after the first week in January, this year, I decided to google.

I guess I was looking for something out of the ordinary, something different than the list I compiled above. The same old things kept coming up as I searched. Perhaps the best one I found was from a simple piglet who lives in the Forest surrounding the Hundred Acre Wood, with his friend Winnie. After I found this, I googled no longer.

"It's the start of a new year, isn't it, Piglet?" said Pooh, all excited.

"It certainly is," said Piglet. "What are you hoping for, this year?" asked Pooh. "Are you going to try and achieve some goals or ambitions? Make lots of money? Better yourself?"

"Well," said Piglet. "The thing is, Pooh, is that I am a very simple soul at heart. And I may not be right, when I say this...but I have always felt that the most important thing in life - for me at least - is love. To love, and to be loved.

So while Achieving Goals, and Making Money, and Bettering Yourself, might all be great things to dream of...I can't help feeling that, without love, they would be very empty dreams indeed." "So your hopes for the next year are ...

"For love," said Piglet, simply. "For love, and for a regular walk through the Hundred Acre Wood with my very best friend, kicking up the leaves and talking as though we haven't a care in the world." "That sounds just perfect to me," said Pooh. "Shall we go?"

And so the two friends put on their boots and their waterproofs, and walked out into the Hundred Acre Wood, kicking up leaves and talking as though they hadn't a care in the world (A.A Milne)

After reading this, I think we would all do well to reword any resolutions made into ‘hopes’. It seems to work for Piglet and Winnie. And, makes perfect sense in my opinion.

Perhaps next year, I might go back to making these resolutions once more. I’ll start with ‘Google less’, as all I need, all anyone really needs is to just imagine that they’re deep within the Hundred Acre Wood, walking with their very best friend, kicking up leaves and talking as though neither person hasn’t a care in the world.

After reading this, I was struck by a few things. 

1. I think we would all do well to reword any resolutions made into ‘hopes’. It seems to work for Piglet and Winnie. That way, one cannot really fail with a 'hope'. It may or may not happen!
2. Often in the day to day craziness, we lose sight of the beauty of simplicity, the things that are really important in life. A walk somewhere not very important, a chat along the walk, kicking up leaves without a care in the world sounds pretty darn good.
3. And really, you don’t need to be walking anywhere at all, as long as you’re with your very best friend, that’s all that matters…

As the new school year begins, I’m more than happy to chat with anyone who has actually made a New Year’s resolution (more intrigued really), to find out the current status of ‘said’ resolutions in your world. If you haven’t made a resolution, hope or dream, it’s never too late, or just borrow one from two very best friends.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards,

Ed Weekes

School Principal