FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Be Your Best

The banner hanging in our gym at Kew High School displays the following words:

You don’t have to be the best. You just have to be your best.

It is there for all in our community to read in memory of our past student, Jack Marchesin, who, in his short life, was known for always giving one hundred percent. He was motivated, engaged, keen to learn and he made the most of his opportunities. It is there to inspire others to adopt his approach.

Sometimes it is easy to think we are giving everything, but on reflection and through comparisons with the efforts of others, we realise that we have fallen short. To give your all requires commitment, passion, grit and persistence. The idea of a personal best involves the prospect of the bar being lifted. There is the possibility to aim higher and improve with sustained effort.

To stretch yourself to perform at your best means that you run the risk of failing. You don’t know what your best is until you hit the wall and can go no further, when you feel the burn and you are physically or mentally depleted. To be your best requires that you move from the comfort zone with your known strengths and abilities to the courage zone, where all progress occurs, into the unknown, the uncertain, the unfamiliar.  This requires strong moral fibre.

The students who achieve at their best exhibit a strong work ethic, rigour, a willingness to collaborate, to reflect and revise, and to seek assistance. They genuinely Aspire, Strive and Achieve. 

No matter where you are being placed on a continuum, at the standard, below or above, you should feel assured that you have challenged yourself and this is actually your best.  When you receive a satisfactory only you can ascertain if you have cruised or if you have extended yourself, only you can judge if you are just getting by and in fact your input is mediocre. There should be no pleasure in achieving an average result if you are capable with more effort, of accomplishing better outcomes.

At the end of the day only be content when you have attained at your best, realised your potential and reached your optimum.  Seek to find opportunities to give more, extend yourself further in order to really understand your capabilities, strengths and possibilities.

Clare Entwisle