With the school year now well and truly underway, it has been a pleasure visiting the various learning spaces of the ELC and Junior School, and talking with the students and their teachers. The inquisitive smiles, the sparks of curiosity and wonder, and the commitment and determination on display have been a great source of inspiration.
On one such visit to Year 4 this week, I paused to consider the power of storytelling and language – words matter. In the story of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Dickens challenges readers of all ages to “consider nothing impossible” and to “treat possibilities as probabilities”. By simply adjusting ours words and thinking from “I wish” to “I will” we can begin to see barriers and challenges as entirely surmountable and wholly conquerable.
Learning and school should be viewed in this way too – I will know my times tables, I will swing across the monkey bars, I will read my first chapter book, I will remember where I leave my hat and blazer! A single word can deliver a significant impact with remarkable results. This was none more evident than when our Year 5 students tackled gruelling outdoor challenges in their introduction to the Girls with Grit program last week. Malodourous mud, murky water, icy winds, and slippery embankments couldn’t stop the resolve of our students to say I will. Despite the uncomfortable and difficult challenges, the students showed wonderful strength of character and grit: like Copperfield and our School’s motto, Year 5 considered nothing to be impossible.
I have seen the same strength in my own Year 6 MYP Mathematics class, with students setting their own I will learning goals for the term. I have seen it on the playground too, with new ELC and Junior School students courageously thinking I will as they forge new friendships and navigate their new school environment. I have seen it in our brave Prep students, as they quietly say I will, confidently and independently making their way to class each morning.
As students and families head into this weekend, I encourage parents to ask their child what their I will is for the next week, term or even the year – remembering to celebrate the small successes along the way!
Peter McDonald
Head of ELC and Junior School
Year 5 students, Prep students