The View

Friday, 17 Feb 2023

Tongues and Tensions
Last Friday an excited group of children found a baby blue tongue lizard under a bag rack. We needed to relocate the terrified lizard away from the exuberant young students, so I attempted to pick it up. This small but fierce reptile viewed my attempted rescue and relocation as an...
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Friday, 17 Feb 2023

Connection
During the summer some mighty gum trees in my neighbourhood fell victim to a raging storm and crashed to the ground, roots laid bare. Even more magnetic than our Australian gums are the enormous redwood trees. They grow to around 100m tall, with diameters up to 7 metres. Some redwoods...
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Friday, 09 Dec 2022

How Is Your Sparkle?
Several years ago Primary students were visiting my office to choose prizes. One of the highly prized items in the box was small tubes of glitter. One young student selected a tube of glitter and excitedly bounced out of my office with her new treasure. She returned almost immediately, holding...
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Friday, 02 Dec 2022

It Takes A Village
One of the things I love about this time of year is looking back and seeing the growth in our students. They come so far in a school year, and it’s exciting to see that growth and development. There are so many people that contribute to that growth. Parents, relatives,...
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Friday, 25 Nov 2022

Investing for the Future
I had the privilege of working at Avondale School in the Year 2000 for one year, before going to Queensland. That was 22 years ago.  Since then, the school has added considerable infrastructure, such as the iCentre, a state-of-the-art Multi-Purpose Centre and Trade School, to name a few. Construction on the...
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Friday, 18 Nov 2022

Unbridled Joy
Last week, the youngest member of my family turned one and enjoyed her first birthday party. It was a small occasion consisting of our immediate family, one set of grandparents and a visiting aunt and cousin. The company was lovely, the present opening wonderful, but the moment that will live...
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Friday, 11 Nov 2022

Justice
Our children and young people are part of a generation who see the world differently to their parents. They have at their finger-tips technology that allows them to find information readily, stay in constant contact with others and see news unfolding in real time. While this has its disadvantages, it...
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Friday, 04 Nov 2022

Going the Extra Mile
The word 'marathon' (26 miles) comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent to run from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought) that...
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Friday, 28 Oct 2022

To Serve or not to Serve
Why do we focus on service with our Avondale School students? Is it important? What is the benefit of serving others rather than yourself?  “Through the service of men and women and boys and girls, God’s work is done”. President Spencer W. Kimball explained: “God does notice us, and he...
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