Warwick Davidson

Belgrave Heights Christian School has been a place of great blessing to the many members of our school community over its 39 years as a school – students, parents, teachers, administrative staff, maintenance staff or members of school Council both past and present.  And this has not happened by chance, but by the gracious provision of our heavenly Father by his Son and through his Spirit who has provided many people over the years who have served and loved our school and the community.

Today I want to acknowledge Warwick Davidson as a great servant of our school. Warwick concludes 37 years of service on the School Council this year including 26 years as Chairman from 1990-2016. When he started in 1985, the school was 2 years old with 30-40 primary students and a handful of staff. As he leaves at the end of 2022, the school has grown to over 800 students from Kinder to Year 12 and over 100 staff.  He was there during the difficult time in the mid-1990s when enrolments dropped to 5 and the school was in danger of closure and saw God provide two classes of students on loan from a fellow Christian school for two years to get us through.  He was there from the early 1990s when we started building our architecturally designed buildings with assistance from the Block Grant Authority which has continued to today to provide outstanding facilities for staff and students. He also oversaw several purchases of land from the Presbyterian Church of Victoria to support expansion of the school.

His impact also goes beyond the outward facilities of the school to the influence of his character.  He embodied our school motto to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.  He has always attended important school functions.  As Chairman he brought a quiet, calm and steady hand to leadership of the School Council.  He showed care for every member whether making great efforts to on-board new members and make them feel welcome, or in showing great diplomacy and stakeholder management skills facing complex issues.  He demonstrated Jesus’s teaching “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

As a School Council, we acknowledge Warwick’s immense contribution and service and thank God for it.  To Warwick, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”