The best story of them all

As an English teacher and a Mum, some of my best memories are of reading books with my children.

Stories such as Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, Where is the Green Sheep?, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt were on regular rotation in our house and even now, I think I still have some of them memorised! The stories we share with our children have the ability to form some strong and important foundations for lifelong literacy and learning.

One book we read often was Dogger, by Shirley Hughes. Dogger tells the story of Dave, a young boy with a scruffy, much loved toy called Dogger. Dave and Dogger are inseparable; they walk the big kids to and from school and they cuddle up in bed each night. However, one day tragedy strikes and Dogger goes missing. There are a wonderful few pages of the whole family searching every cupboard and under every bed to no avail (I definitely related to these scenes!) Despite the best efforts of his family to console him, Dave feels heartbroken without Dogger.

A few days later, a miserable Dave is at the toy stall at the local school fair. Under a pile of books, trains and second-hand toys, Dave spots Dogger, sitting on the table with a 3 pence price tag! Desperate to buy back his beloved toy, Dave races to find his big sister Bella to help him, but alas – by the time they return to the toy stall Dogger has been sold to another girl.

Bella and Dave race to ask the girl if she would sell him Dogger, but she refuses. Bella, who has just won a giant teddy bear in a three-legged race, comes to the rescue by trading her new teddy bear to the girl in return for Dogger.

Dave hugs Dogger tightly, and promises to never lose him again.

As we move towards Easter, an event of central importance in the Christian faith, I think the story of Dave, Bella and Dogger draws our hearts to remember God’s goodness and redemptive grace. Dogger reminds me of the love of God; despite our sin, imperfection and scruffiness, we are deeply and eternally loved by God. When faced with a price that Dave could not pay, he raced to Bella, who in a beautiful act of sibling care, redeemed Dogger at her own personal cost. This is a reminder for me that our need for redemption is past what any of us could achieve on our own; instead we are offered “the free gift of God [in] eternal life in Christ Jesus” Romans 6:23.

As our school community celebrates Easter this year, it is my prayer for each of our students and their families that they may be both challenged and comforted by the great love of God and the work of Jesus on the cross to bring grace, forgiveness and redemption; the very best story of all.

Stelle Carmichael - Head of Students

Exploring our heritage...

I took some time away from my studies to travel when I was in my early 20s.

A bit like the modern ‘gap year,’ it was an attempt to learn about myself as a person by exploring my heritage.  I travelled to Red Deer, the town in Canada where I was born. I saw the church in which I was baptised, the home that my parents built and the school where my father had taught mathematics.  I also spent time in the Netherlands, the birthplace of my parents.  I got to know the uncles, aunties and cousins who had not migrated to Tasmania and to experience the culture that my parents had left behind many years earlier.

As I travelled around both of these countries, I had a strong sense of my heritage.  In visiting significant places and talking to people who had known me as a child or had grown up with my parents, I came to understand much of what makes me ‘tick’ as the person that I am today. 

“By celebrating Heritage Day each year, we hope that all members of the Calvin community will come to understand more of what makes us ‘tick’ as the school that we are today. ”

Next week we will celebrate Heritage Day at Calvin Christian School. We will look at photos from the archives and hear stories from those who were part of the Calvin community long before I became part of it. By celebrating Heritage Day each year, we hope that all members of the Calvin community will come to understand more of what makes us ‘tick’ as the school that we are today. 

In 2022, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Calvin. As part of the celebratory events, I had the privilege of interviewing a number of the founding association members and early educators.  It was an intensely rewarding experience for me - personally and professionally. The conversations gave me great insight into the vision that the founders held for Christian Education in the Kingborough area. The photos and stories provided me with a lasting impression of the dedication and hard work of the founding families over many decades. 

I have been able to share many of these stories at events over the past few years, the most recent being at the induction of new teachers to the organisation in late January.  After the presentation, a new Calvin teacher came to thank me for helping her to understand the school. While she had lived in the Kingborough area for a long time, she had not fully understood the reason the school was established, nor the significance of the Oliebollen Festival in raising much needed funds. By looking back to the heritage of the school, she had developed a better grasp of her role as a teacher at Calvin. 

What a joy to be part of a community that values its history and remains faithful to the Christian heritage upon which it was established.

Bonny Moroni - Head of Secondary

Planning for Peace!

This year we are excited to be implementing a new program in the Primary Campus called PeaceWiseKids.

This is a Christian program that equips young people to deal with challenging relationships and conflict in healthy, constructive and life-changing ways. In this program we will be teaching students key skills and strategies to having peaceful relationships and how to deal with difficult situations that arise in their day to day lives.  Students in Prep to Year 6 will have fortnightly lessons learning the principles, unpacking difficult situations and learning a shared vocabulary to use in the classroom, playground and even at home!

As we move through the program, students will see posters and flowcharts in the classroom and playground to help them remember the skills and strategies as they are learning to become peacemakers. This includes concepts such as the ‘5 A’s of Apology,’ ‘4 Choices of Forgiving’ and ‘Staying on Top of Conflict.’ 

Over the course of the year, students will work through the following three modules.

• Module 1: Understanding Conflict

• Module 2: Responding the Conflict

• Module 3: Peacemakers for Life

We started Module 1 last Thursday afternoon, looking at the question ‘What is conflict?’ During the course of this term we will unpack the following questions: Where does conflict come from? What is God’s peace plan for us? How can conflict be an opportunity? How do we become peacemakers?

We look forward to the journey of developing and improving peacemaking skills with our students this year. Please ask your children about their experiences and talk to class teachers if you would like more information about this program.

Andrew Nash - Deputy Principal, Head of Primary