The View

Friday, 19 Nov 2021

​Joy on the Journey
As the year draws to a close, schools naturally focus on achievement as tests are marked, reports are compiled and awards are conferred. We acknowledge excellence. An important part of our Mission at Avondale School is for each student to achieve their God-given potential. We want our students to find...
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Friday, 12 Nov 2021

HSC Exams
What if I fail?  What if I’m not good enough? What if I never receive what I'm praying for? The Year 12 students finally got to start their HSC exams on Tuesday this week. Each of them has probably experienced the stress and anxiety associated with fear. The fear of...
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Friday, 05 Nov 2021

Those Summer Days
As the warm summer days are becoming more common, so too are those familiar weekend sounds. Like the quintessential mid-Sunday morning whirring of the lawnmower, whose proud efforts serve as the curtain-raiser for a neighbourhood choir of discordant lawnmowers. Each is joining the chorus with intermittent enthusiasm in a reverberant...
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Friday, 29 Oct 2021

Hey Frog
I love frogs. I do everything I can to encourage frogs (and other wildlife) to thrive in my garden. On rainy nights, I am the crazy person outside with an umbrella and torch in an attempt to locate and identify my amphibious friends. I even have an app on my...
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Friday, 22 Oct 2021

Am I Active?
“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 Over the last 12 months I have seen a great increase in the number of people outside, being active. My local bush tracks around the Morisset Peninsula, the Gap (Great North Walk) and Avondale University tracks have...
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Friday, 15 Oct 2021

Back to School with Confidence
Many students are excited to return to school and will thrive as they return to classrooms. Some students, however, may be feeling anxious about the return, having enjoyed the comforts and flexibility of learning from home. Students may be worried they have fallen behind, anxious about friendship groups or concerned...
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Friday, 08 Oct 2021

If you can be anything, be kind.
Many years ago I remember sitting with a young student who had lashed out angrily at a classmate. The classmate was crying as they dealt with their wounds; bruises to his leg and his pride. The classmate had bravely shared their feelings and now I was attempting to negotiate a...
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Friday, 10 Sept 2021

Pathways
Yesterday I shut my laptop and used the last hours of sunlight to prune a hedge in my garden. This hedge runs along a fence line and my kelpie disappears behind it regularly. As I pruned back overgrown branches, I discovered a well-worn pathway that creates a circuit. Lewis follows...
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Friday, 20 Aug 2021

How’s Your Self-Talk?
Have you ever tried to brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand? Or tie your shoelace with a different method? Maybe your favourite seat was taken at your local park, church or café table and you had to sit somewhere else. When you had something interrupt your routine, how did...
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