Ever since my first year of teaching, I have always felt a sense of anticipation and excitement, waiting for staff, students and parents to head through the gate. This year has been no exception and I can quickly identify with those who have also commenced at the College for the first time.
My hope is that I never lose that sense of excitement and continue to put myself in the shoes of our students, understanding how they might be feeling. I always knew that I wanted to be an educator. Whether it be early beginnings as a primary teacher or in leadership roles as Head of Middle School or Deputy Principal, I could not escape the thrill of seeing a student master a new skill for the first time. The excitement on their face, the proud way they demonstrated what they had learnt to their peers, parents and siblings and their hunger for new knowledge that came as a result.
As educators and parents, we delight in recognising and celebrating successful outcomes for our children. However, as we know, success cannot be measured only as the final result or performance but must also include the journey. Success does not just happen. Quite often we encounter numerous obstacles along the way that attempt to prevent us from achieving our goal. Creating an environment which nurtures and fosters values such as persistence, diligence, dedication, hard work and risk taking is particularly important if our students are able to appreciate how to be successful, while also allowing them to keep it all in perspective should they fall short of the result they were hoping.
Through the support of their peers and teachers, many students will tackle problems or face challenges they believed to be too difficult or the fear of failure too great. Every staff member at our school, no matter what their role, contributes to making a difference in the lives of every student and in our lives as professional people.