Measuring Up

We have a tradition in our family that many of you probably share.

Each birthday, the children take their shoes off, stand up against the wall, and we measure their growth, checking their progress from the previous year. For our children (although most of them are adults now) this is a cause of great conversation and comparison as they see how they measure up to their siblings (and parents) and discuss their “planned” growth trajectory (i.e. who they are going to lord it over when they reach their anticipated goal). I have one daughter who, although her growth ended when she was in Year 8, continues to insist that she “is still growing” and I have often been told that I am old and I’m only going to get shorter whilst they grow.

“In most cases, these are ‘hope-filled’ conversations about the success of reaching milestones or the plans for continued growth. ”

We have many ways that we measure our children; by height, shoe size, results, levels of accomplishment. They themselves are often eager, like my children on their birthdays, to see how they ‘measure up’. In most cases, these are ‘hope-filled’ conversations about the success of reaching milestones or the plans for continued growth. As teachers and parents, we are blessed to have many conversations with students who we know have incredible, God-given potential, that may remain untapped or holds the promise of even greater growth. These are, by-and-large, positive conversations that look forward to the fulfilment of the promise in their lives, the encouragement for our children to ‘Be Your Best’.

“Sometimes, however, these conversations can be challenging for us when we realise that we have fallen short of what we had hoped or expected; that the goal was beyond us and that we need support to make it.”

Sometimes, however, these conversations can be challenging for us when we realise that we have fallen short of what we had hoped or expected; that the goal was beyond us and that we need support to make it. This ‘gap’ can be heart-breaking but it provides an opportunity for growth that is potentially even more valuable. There come opportunities in our lives when we can openly acknowledge that we are not flawless people and, a recognition that we need the grace of God, freely given, so that we may attain “…to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). That growth is of truly eternal value when we understand our right relationship with God, that the “…gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The strength of Christian Education is in acknowledging that our children (and we) need to grow in each of the dimensions of life, physically, academically, socially and spiritually. As parents we can plan for and delight in the growth of our children in all its many facets but we understand that sometimes the hard lessons bring the greatest growth and the things that will truly endure.

Scott Ambrose — Principal

What Really Matters...

A recent media release from Tony Crehan of Independent Schools Tasmania (IST) highlighted the growth in enrolments in Tasmanian Independent Schools last year.

It is interesting that, at a time when the number of school aged children in Tasmania is declining, Independent School numbers are growing, 4.4% in 2021 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data. 

As parents, you would be aware that over the course of the last couple of years, we too have been experiencing significant growth, both at Calvin Christian School and, excitingly, across our association of schools, Christian Schools Tasmania. We feel the benefit of these numbers in our ability to attract and retain great Christian teachers and staff and in our ability to provide broader educational opportunities for our students.

Carefully managed, growth has the potential to benefit our students and to increase our opportunity to connect and communicate with our community. I say ‘carefully managed’ because we need to be sure that, in a season of growth, we can maintain and grow the things that really matter in terms of our core faith and the values that it spring from it.

“ I say ‘carefully managed’ because we need to be sure that, in a season of growth, we can maintain and grow the things that really matter in terms of our core faith and the values that it spring from it. ”

As a faith-based, Christian school, we are very clear in our communication of who we are and the beliefs and values that underpin our School. We do this in our interviews, in our classrooms and curriculum, through our communication with the community, and by the ways that we seek to live as followers of Christ.

Common comments that I hear from parents as we interview and tour the school with them reflect their excitement at finding a school that shares and openly communicates their values. A school where their children have an opportunity to learn and to grow in their understanding of the Christian faith whilst pursuing excellence in their studies.

This desire to have their children educated in a faith-based, distinctively Christian learning environment is an attractive thing to many in our broader community. To be a school where this is done well and where young people are able to actively explore faith is part of the story of our growth, and I suspect, of other Christian and Independent Schools in our state. Part of our celebration of our 60 Year Anniversary this year is a chance to ‘rediscover’ and to ‘re-emphasise’ these distinctive aspects of our school community. Understanding why our school was established helps us to understand how we can operate now and to think about what our School could or should be into the future.

I look forward to continuing this conversation with you this year and welcome your reflections and insights as we seek to build, as our vision states, a truly ‘transformational Christian learning community’.

Scott Ambrose — Principal

A new beginning...

This year is an exciting one for us as a school for a number of reasons.

We have a large number of new students beginning at Calvin from Kindergarten through to Year 12. We are feeling both the blessing and excitement of growth and, in a number of classes, we are simply full. Each new student brings something different to our School and for them, this is something of a ‘new beginning’, a chance for a new start.

At the opening of our School in 1962, the following words were spoken: “With thankfulness to God, Who guided our hands and hearts, we may now look back with satisfaction to many days of hard work and steady progress. But today is not just the end of a period, it is to mark a new beginning that we have assembled here.”

Neatly encapsulated within that dedication, was an acknowledgement of the past, of God’s faithfulness through years of giving, fundraising and voluntary labour since 1954 that had led up to the School’s opening. Significantly, this became a point from which to look forward to the exciting future that was to come (‘a new beginning’).

“The idea of a ‘new beginning’ was and is something to be celebrated, it speaks of hope for our children and their futures.”

It is now 60 years since those first classes opened and we, as a school community, continue to acknowledge God’s imprint on our past, His presence in our present, and we look forward to the future to which he calls us. Those founding school families knew that God was not going to stop at the point of having established the School. The idea of a ‘new beginning’ was and is something to be celebrated, it speaks of hope for our children and their futures.

This year, in our 60 Year celebrations, we are continuing to look forward with hope to the new beginning promised through Jesus, believing that He is interested in all aspects of our lives and has the power to transform us and our community. In that sense, we continue, faithful to the founding vision of Calvin Christian School, proclaiming that there is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” Ephesians 4:6.

Scott Ambrose - Principal