Staffing for 2020

In the next few weeks the final details of staffing for 2020 are going to be concluded and communicated to the school community.

I am appreciative of your patience as we work to bring about the best arrangements for next year. The recruitment of the best teachers and their placement within the school are responsibilities that we take seriously. Sometimes, making the final detailed arrangements takes time. While this is one of those years, you can be assured that we are very active in the process of finalising arrangements. In that regard, I do have some progress reports for you. 

I am grateful for the contribution by Virginie von Savageri to the Calvin Christian School community in both mathematics and the broader life of the school. I am announcing that Virginie has tendered her resignation and will be commencing work next year at the school that her daughter attends. The best words to describe Virginie’s commitment to the progress of her students is ‘above and beyond’. It seems that nothing has been too difficult to undertake if it has been an advantage to her students’ active progress. This is, of course, exactly why Virginie was a great cultural fit for Calvin. I am well aware of the regard that she is accorded by students. We will miss her contribution at Calvin and know that she will be a blessing in God’s plan for students in her new school. I wish Virginie well in this new chapter of her life. Ms von Savageri’s teaching load will be largely taught by Ms Annalé van Heerden, the new Head of Year 7. Ms van Heerden is a Mathematics teacher very much in the student-centred mould of Virginie.

“I am appreciative of your patience as we work to bring about the best arrangements for next year”

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Shayne Hull as an English and Humanities teacher. Mr Hull comes to us from Queensland where he has taught senior English and History for a number of years. Shayne grew in his faith through his university years and was mentored by the pastor at the church he attended in Baradine, New South Wales. He has subsequently attended the Mitchelton Presbyterian Church, where he is a congregational prayer leader, youth leader (previously), and where he occasionally preaches. He has a well-developed ability to articulate a worldview and has encountered Christ in a genuine and authentic experience. He reveals that he has been disciplined by the word and guided through life by the Spirit. Shayne’s formal qualifications are a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education (Southern Cross University). He has a sophisticated understanding of curriculum and pedagogy, has been a panel member in both Ancient History and Modern History, a subject coordinator of History, and has had pastoral leadership roles with Year 7 and 8 year groups. 

I am also delighted to announce the appointments of Ms Katrina Harley as the new teacher of Kindergarten and Ms Jasmine Blachford as her assistant. Our expanding kindergarten enrolments will be well served by the skills, experience and attributes of these ladies. The detailed biographies of Katrina and Jasmine are listed separately in a letter communicating their appointment to new Kindergarten families. I am sure that they will each make an excellent contribution to the exceptional start in education for which Calvin has such a well-deserved reputation.

I will bring you further details in the coming days.

Iain Belôt – Principal

Finishing Strong

Our Year 10 students completed their academic year today. They commence their work experience visits from Monday next. 

The highlight of this last week of school for Year 10s is the Op Shop Ball. This ball is an expression of the school value of compassion. The theme is the 1980s, and outfits are created by purchasing items from charity opportunity shops. In our time of celebration, we desire to express a spirit of thanksgiving whilst simultaneously being compassionate to others who are less fortunate than ourselves. We give thanks for our opportunity to attend a school like Calvin, for our relationships, and for the provision of opportunities that others may not receive. The costumes contribute to the fun of the evening. The event is a wonderful relational connection. The evening is fondly regarded by our students, and with good reason. I want to thank the staff and the student organising committee for organising a wonderful event of transition to Year 11. 

“In our time of celebration, we desire to express a spirit of thanksgiving whilst simultaneously being compassionate to others”

All the staff wish our students well for their experience next week and for the holiday break that follows. To those who are leaving to pursue other initiatives we wish them every success. We are looking forward to seeing students commence Year 11 in February next year. The senior experience at Calvin is renowned for the supportive and mature relationships between students and staff. We are praying for all these students to have a safe and relaxing holiday break.

Also this week, our Year 11 and 12 students completed their examinations. The manner with which they conducted themselves was impressive. The community-mindedness and care that they exhibited for each other was inspiring. They demonstrated considerable perseverance, character and courtesy.

For our Kinder to Year 9 students, the school program, both inside and outside the classroom, continues unabated for another month. There remains considerable time and opportunity to advance academic and personal goals. We will continue to pursue expressing our purpose and advancing the development of your children in this time. While the major tasks have been completed in time to be assessed and entered into student reports, the academic program maintains our educative purposes 

“ There is a critical dimension of school life that is not about study and assessment. Living in community fosters the opportunity to build character”

At the commencement of the year the students established some goals and the pursuit of these positive improvements continues. 

They also have an ample opportunity to demonstrate the same perseverance, character and courtesy as they pursue high standards of application and personal development. There is a critical dimension of school life that is not about study and assessment. Living in community fosters the opportunity to build character. 

There are examinations for character just as there are for studies. However, these tests do not come at the conclusion of units, terms and semesters. They come every day. 

I wish every student success in the tests of character in the coming weeks. 

Iain Belôt - Principal

Building Character & Attitude

“What we will achieve … will be shaped far more by the collection of dispositions, habits and attitudes that make up our character than by our education and skills.”

—Whetstone, J. (2003)

The challenge for schools is always to provide environments where people, young and older, can build dispositions, habits and skills.

Visiting the art display in the library will bring you face-to-face with incredible levels of skill. While it is trite, the 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration rule is clearly evidenced. Colour, form, innovation, and style are as equally visible as tenacity, discipline, and practice. When considering the work, you encounter an artist.

At the award ceremony for the National History Challenge last week, I was struck by two things. The first was the amount of additional of work, over and above scheduled academic work, that students undertook and successfully completed. The second was that these young folk had captured the essence of studying history — they were historians.

Influenced by an artist who is a teacher, and a historian who is a teacher, the students engaged in these two activities were supported into discovering so much more about their own capabilities, dispositions, habits, attitudes and skills.

“It is also appropriate to remind all students that awards do not denigrate those who do not win”

More than one student became a scholar. More than one student became an artist.

Children uncover and forge their identity in a collection of continuous instalments. The nature of the lesson in each instalment is influenced by the different circumstances they encounter.

Gifted by God, nurtured by parents, nourished by teachers and refined by challenges, students steadily assemble the understanding of their capabilities. Rightfully, their sense of capacity is constantly stretched and their resilience grown through the challenges they face.

It is timely to remind our Year 12 students that their substance is not reflected by an academic score. 

The examinations measure some elements of their academic progress. This is valuable, but not holistic or definitive. There is much more that creates the person that they are. As they leave school and enter the larger world, it is important for them to know and remember this.

It is also appropriate to remind all students that awards do not denigrate those who do not win.

“the point of reference we desire determines our response, happiness, and often our emotional health”

The reference point upon which we focus in life, as well as in specific endeavours, is of vital importance to both our perspective and our well-being.

I commend everyone to a podcast entitled ‘The Happiness Lab’, from the series entitled Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell. Dr Laurie Santos is Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University, and she delivers the most popular course in the history of that university, The Happiness Lab. In this podcast she explores the various responses of Olympic silver medallists to not winning the gold medal. She suggests that our minds do not always frame us for health and happiness.

For these athletes, being second best in the world may have been a disappointment. It turns out that the point of reference we desire determines our response, happiness, and often our emotional health.

The core of our work as a school is powered by our motto, ‘Set your mind on Christ’. Even the Yale University course affirms the deep virtue of that focus.

In both our spiritual and earthly lives, we are advantaged by focussing on our own character development. Our core business is on the improvement of our own dispositions, habits, attitudes, education and skills.

Iain Belôt - Principal