Year 12 Pastoral Guardian
Karen Farrow
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
As a parent myself and the proud Pastoral Guardian of your much-loved young adults, this quote really connected with me:There is no such thing as a perfect parent. However, research shows that one of the most important protective factors in the lives of young people, is a close relationship with a supportive adult.”Dr Michael Carr-Gregg (SchoolTV)I know from my own parental experience, that you may have been as reflective, proud and happy as a parent that your child had now reached the rite of passage of the Senior Formal as an extremely elegant, more independent, confident young adult. I too, was absolutely so incredibly proud at the Formal, as Year 12 Pastoral Guardian, to welcome every one of my students who exceeded my expectations of elegance and etiquette, and I have delighted in communicating my pride to the students. From the moment of elegant entry into the ballroom, every student introduced self and partners confidently, conducting themselves with grace and joy for the complete evening of dining and dancing.
Congratulations to Ms Southern and the Senior Formal Committee who planned the exquisite event and designed the enchanted forest ballroom theme. The CLT, teachers and Greek Club management commended our cohort on their outstanding demeanour. Special congratulations are also extended to you as parents at this special time for your young person. It is a delicate time as parents when we have to balance how we guide, yet gradually unleash the reins to enable freedom, independence, risk taking, mistakes from which to learn, responsibility for choices and learning, and the consequences for young adult decisions. However, the most important contribution we can gift is to be supportive, present and available to spend time with your child, now young adult, to be interested and truly listen. I am speaking from my experience and encourage you to embrace your next journey in your new role as a parent of a young adult, and soon to be adult. It is indeed a joy to be a parent and our important responsibility is a lifelong and treasured commitment.
Focusing on the topic of parenting, this week’s SchoolTV video interviews are both valuable and affirming for parents, and one article that was of particular interest based on the scientific field of positive psychology was “Positive Parenting: Powerful ways to raise healthy kids (Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD).
I encourage you as the most important persons in their lives to inspire your young adult in the few months we have in their final journey of high school to strive for achieving their highest goals to reach their future dreams ahead. As Pastoral Guardian with you as parents, our pride will extend all too soon with the graduation events in November for our class of 2022. I look forward to sharing these final proud moments with you.
Karen Farrow
Year 12 Pastoral Guardian