Dear Parents,

I pray you’ve had a good week.

Yesterday, we held our school captain speeches, where our Year 5’s put their case forward on why they would be a good leader, they really were amazing speeches. Seventeen of our students spoke with such heart and clarity about what the school means to them, why they would make good leaders, and their ideas for the future.

However, what struck me most this year was a beautiful humility throughout the speeches, that I’ve never seen before. I sense that, as a school community, the penny is beginning to drop: service equals purpose. How much richer our school, lives, work, and friendships become when we seek to put others before ourselves. I’ve said this before - I really believe that the less we think about ourselves, the happier we become. It’s not an easy concept for children to understand, yet I continually see our teaching staff modelling and reinforcing these values with such care and consistency.

I was so proud of our Year 5 students for the courage they showed. One of our core values as a school is courage, and I can’t think of anything much more courageous than standing in front of 225 students and 22 staff members to speak to risk vulnerability, to face possible rejection, and to give your best. Sometimes as adults we can be quick to forget that these children are 10 and 11 years old. It’s not an easy thing for adults to do, let alone primary school children. One boy said to me that he never knew it would be so hard to get up in front of so many people and talk. However, they all had the great feeling of accomplishment when they finished their speeches! Perhaps even just the same, I’m actually proud of those other Year 5 students who decided this wasn’t the right time for them, or that their skillset can be utilised in different ways, this also takes an element of courage and self awareness.

Next, the candidates will have interviews with myself, the deputy principal and the 3-6 coordinator Mrs Gounder. From there, we’ll make decisions based on student and teacher voting, interviews, and past behaviour. Not everyone will be chosen, that’s the reality of leadership opportunities. Those who don’t get roles will likely be upset, and there are some great leaders who will miss out simply because 17 candidates don’t fit nicely, easily or actually at all, into 8 roles, that’s hard.

However, perhaps the real prize isn’t actually getting a role but the process itself. I think I’ve often been guilty in my life of being so quick to want to experience the reward of the result that I’ve neglected the process. A result gives us an immediate dopamine hit, we won or accomplished something and therefore we are happy, this is not necessarily a bad thing. As humans we can be quick to overvalue the result and undervalue the process. The process of writing a speech, deciding whether to put your hand up, being honest and vulnerable, showing courage is actually the most important part, not the getting a “role” part. It’s exactly the same thing in our classrooms, knowledge is vital, but learning how to learn is more important. It’s the old saying, give a man a fish, or teach him how to fish, which is better? Learning how to think critically, process information, and draw thoughtful conclusions and then being able to follow and comprehend instructions, make rational decisions is what truly shapes our students up for a life of success.

Congratulations, Year 2

A big congratulations to Year 2 for their outstanding effort and behaviour in the recent incursion. They had an amazing time and it was great fun, check out the photos in the School News section!

Well done, Yrs 3 and 4

Congratulations also to all of the Year 3’s and 4’s who sung for us in Chapel this morning. It was absolutely amazing, they learnt harmonies and it was so wonderful. Congratulations to them and Mrs Britton for all their hard work and blessing us this morning.

There are lots of exciting events happening between now and the end of the year, so please familiarise yourself with the key dates.

My door is always open.

Mr Joe Britton

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