3… 2… 1… Blast Off!

By Andy Callow (Principal)

Some of you may be old enough to remember gathering around a black and white TV and watching Neil Armstrong take those first small steps on the moon. The younger among us may have seen the grainy footage on YouTube.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

First steps are significant. Think of a baby learning to walk. Walking into your Prep class for the first time. Stepping off the bus on a school camp. The first moments at University or a new job.

Just like Neil Armstrong, our steps may seem small but behind each step there has been a team of people who helped launch us in that direction and who continue to support us as we travel.

Before the students returned, our staff were reminded about the roles that they play in launching our students into new worlds of learning. Like the Saturn V rocket, each ‘part’ of the school – Junior, Middle and Senior – shapes trajectory.

In our first assembly, the students were challenged to think about their direction – not just academically but in developing the whole person; head, heart and hands.

But the steps that I think matter the most are the steps we take towards one another. Steps to try to make people feel included, understood, valued and sustained. Steps that help us to draw us closer in relationship to both God and one another. It is inevitable that we will stumble, sometimes trip and occasionally fall – rockets can misfire!

However, this journey is less about reaching the heavens and more about bringing the heavens to us.

As we launch into another school year, I pray that 2018 will be a year where the direction of our head, heart and hands is guided by hope, love and grace.