We have almost reached the end of a very interesting year.  For much of it we have been short-staffed due to the resignation of our Head of Secondary at the end of Term Two. I want to pay tribute to Mrs Jane McLarty who has been the Acting Head of Secondary in addition to continuing to shoulder much of her regular duties as Deputy Principal. Jane has willingly taken on the additional workload and kept things happening within Secondary, never complaining and always doing it with a smile.

 This is a great example to us all but especially to our students. Today, many people spend more time protecting themselves from too much work, taking care of themselves such that others end up shouldering the burden of work left undone. While balance is important, we were created for work so we should not shy away from it. When God created the first humans, he gave them work to do. He designated a day a week for rest from our work so we would have the strength to do it. In our modern world we have almost reversed this so that we want more rest than we do work.

Work, while often tiring and stressful, is ultimately fulfilling if we approach it with the right attitude. If we don’t believe we were designed for work, then we will seldom approach work with a positive attitude. Work will be seen as a necessary but nuisance distraction from pleasure. Work should not dominate us, as it often can, but in its rightful place, work brings satisfaction and purpose to each day.

Recently, I suggested to you that we should teach our children that while they are at school, they should consider their schoolwork as just that – their work.  The reward is not a salary but the equipping of them for a good future. We can learn to be a good employee by the way we approach our work at school. Being diligent and careful to follow instructions, doing our best at each task and taking pride in presenting good work is a great preparation for a paid role in the future.

I trust we can model this to our students and that the example they get from us is of what it means to embrace work as good and to do our best even when working for others. Mrs McLarty is a fine example of this, and I have greatly appreciated her commitment to this approach as we have made our way through the past two terms. We look forward to a new Head of Secondary joining us in 2023. Mr Steve Lobsey comes from Oxford Falls Grammar School in Sydney, and we look forward to the fresh vision and energy I know he will bring to Years 7 – 12.

Don’t forget to remind your son or daughter that work is what they are made for, and they have a week and a half left at school this year to do some good work.

Phillip Nash

Principal