Being a parent is among the most rewarding and the most challenging thing that we ever get to do as human beings. Recently my wife Phoebe and I sent our youngest child, now very much a young adult, off to university. As our children haved reached these significant milestones, we have reflected on the fact that we don’t imagine we could do anything more meaningful to us than raising our children. We also reflected that the role of a parent never ends.

While I think parenting has always been full of joy and challenges, I do think that there are some specific challenges for parents today. The prevalence of technology and the ability for our children to be continually connected to groups and influences outside the family unit makes it difficult to be the primary influence in our children’s lives. The pressure we feel as parents to provide for our families is taking us away from them more than we would like. There is also pressure to have it all together in more and more unrealistic ways. Despite these pressures and challenges, parents remain the key leaders and influencers in our children’s lives.

As a Christian College we believe that parents have the responsibility to raise and form their children. We believe that this responsibility is given to parents by our Creator God.

In the Bible it speaks of this responsibility in several places. In Deuteronomy 6:6 it says, "these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up".

This passage speaks to the role of parents as the primary educators of their children. We can see the importance of this responsibility within the Ten Commandments themselves as they command children to "Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you". This commandment calls children to respect and honour their parents as their primary influences.

Here at Green Point Christian College part of our mission is to support families as the cornerstone of a flourishing society. This means we seek to honour and uphold families as the first educators of their children. We work to bring the College’s considerable expertise in education to partner with families and work together in community.

Leading children in the way they should go takes a community and Green Point Christian College is here to work in partnership with you through the good times and through the inevitable challenges of raising kids.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your children’s teachers or other staff for support whenever you need it.