This past weekend, my family enjoyed having lunch on Saturday with the grandparents at their home. We intentionally seek to do this each week. Heading to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s is something we all look forward to. With the meal and clean up over, the kids settled into play as the adults chatted nearby.
As the conversation ebbed and flowed, I was informed that some tidying had been occurring over the past week. Breaking from the conversation, my mother slipped away to return shortly with a stack of photos. As I looked through the collection of images from a number of years ago, I was flooded with a sense of nostalgia. While we enjoyed fondly reminiscing about our time spent in Perth, what struck me most was seeing my eldest daughter; the photos capturing her at a similar age as my youngest daughter is now. The resemblance leaves you in no doubt that they are siblings. Looking up at them both playing happily in front of me, I was reminded that time with my kids is precious; they grow up so fast.
At school, I have the pleasure of being a part of our NAPLAN Coordination team each year. In particular, this sees me in the room with the Year 7 and 9 students, welcoming, praying for and leading them through the completion of their various assessments. The final test for the Year 9s is my favourite. As the timer counts down to zero, the students complete another chapter in life’s journey. This is a moment worth celebrating, and we do so by taking their login slips and turning them into paper planes. We then ceremoniously launch them from the balcony of our Collaborative Learning Centre as they leave this part of their school behind and head into what lies beyond. It was not so long ago that they began their first NAPLAN test in Year 3; they grow up so fast.
“Every day is a gift you've been given; make the most of the time, every minute you're living.” (Chris Rice, reflecting on the words found in Psalm 90:12)
In education, we get the pleasure of working with young people from the moment they arrive, as young as three years old, and graduate as young adults finishing Year 12. We love carefully designing learning activities inside and outside of the classroom that create memorable experiences that last a lifetime. The greatest joy comes in spending time with students reminiscing about ‘that time at camp’ and ‘games they used to play with that teacher’... and reflecting on just how far they have come.
In the week to come, let’s be intentional in creating photo-worthy memories with our children; they grow up so fast.
"At the end of the day, people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel” (Maya Angelou).
Mr Darren Martin
Assistant Head of Secondary: Teaching & Learning
Type on the line above then press the Enter/Return key to submit a new search query