This morning I heard a beautiful statement from one of our Year 9 boys. He suddenly looked around and stated “we don’t have all of our people”.
What struck me was the sense of connection and relationship inherent in that statement, the feeling that they were not complete as a group without those additional students. It spoke to me of that sense that our students are known and noticed, as much by their absence sometimes as by their presence – they are missed when they are away.
In his book, The Good Life, Dr Robert Waldinger identified a key factor from the world’s longest longitudinal study of adult health and development conducted in the US. It was very simply that positive relationships were the best predictor of wellbeing. In essence, relationships matter. All of the good things that we do to maintain our health and wellbeing are not wasted time but, irrespective of our background and circumstances, it is relationships that will have the largest impact on us in terms of our long-term wellbeing.
“What struck me was the sense of connection and relationship inherent in that statement...”
And wellbeing matters because, as Dr Donna Cross described it, resilience is the ‘primary outcome of wellbeing’. Our ability to get up and keep going, to manage in challenging times or circumstances can be traced back to relationships. For Dr Cross our wellbeing programmes don’t matter if we don’t know our children and if we as teachers don’t know our students.
It is this sense of being known that is an incredible strength of our School and its community. To feel as though there are people who know my name and are interested in me is of vital importance. As parents, we value this for our children. As I interview prospective parents, they want to know about our programmes and outcomes but they are generally far more interested in developing a sense of whether this is a place that my child will be known, find connection and grow.
Some of our Year 11/12 students spoke at the Discover Calvin event recently and commented that one of the great strengths of our Senior Secondary programme for them was that they got to know their teachers better, that they were building on relationship, and that this was a significant support in those potentially challenging years of education. It is perhaps no surprise that our classes are full.
As followers of Jesus, we can know the sustaining relationship with God that will enable us to better support one another and be a better relational community. Jesus modelled relationship walking with his disciples, all whilst encouraging them to know God better. One of our Primary Campus memory verses for Term 3 is that beautiful summary of Biblical relationship – ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind…Love your neighbour as much as you love yourself.’ Luke 10:27 This is relationship with one another built on the foundational strength of knowing who we are in God.
May the God of grace bless you and your families during the coming school holiday break.
Scott Ambrose - Principal