From the Principal

Cutting the rope and being free

The 1964 movie, Zorba the Greek, tells the story of an uptight English writer travelling to Crete and having his life changed when he meets the gregarious, Alexis Zorba. One beautiful scene in the movie shows Zorba teaching the Englishman to dance. It is a brilliant and happy scene.

A beautiful line from the movie is as follows:

‘A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.’

In many ways, our co-curricular programs are exactly that. They provide an opportunity and outlet for our students to express themselves; to learn and to have fun.

Much of our College life is organised in year levels. It makes sense to have most classes and activities with students of similar age. However, we also have a strong House culture at John XXIII College and this provides an avenue for participation across year levels.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending several events in which our students showcased their talents but most importantly had a lot of fun. The Middle School House Theatre Sport enabled the participants to be innovative and creative and have lots of laughs. The enthusiastic response from parents and other spectators was indicative of a very positive atmosphere. Our Rowing Club had a very successful House competition at Canning Bridge with short course races enabling our young rowers to participate in crews with more seasoned athletes. Towards the end of the morning, some brave parents joined some of the rowers and shared the occasion with their children.

I left both events with a smile on my face and enjoyed watching our young people interacting with students, teachers and families. I am very grateful for the teachers and other staff whose contribution to our College beyond the classroom is quite superb. In this instance, Mr George Tsakisiris and Ms Kaitlyn Green led our Theatre Sport and Mr Rob Thomas coordinated the rowing. As always, our parental engagement and support was excellent.

It is sometimes said that school days should be the happiest of our lives. I will again refer to Zorba the Greek for wisdom:

“I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been.” ― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

PARENT PARKING ADJACENT TO THE COLLEGE

We certainly appreciate that parking at the end of the school day can be difficult. However, we have been respectfully reminded that parking spaces at adjacent hospital facilities are for hospital use and are not for John XXIII College. We would appreciate if that request could be heeded.

Robert Henderson

Principal