On Wednesday 14 August our annual Middle School Celebration took place where we honoured those who have performed especially well in their Semester 1 reports.
Students received certificates from the Principal, Mr Adrian Scott, and the applause of many proud relatives and teachers. A special thanks to the Middle School String Ensemble and the Middle School Worship Band who entertained us well, contributing to the glad mood. Thanks to everyone else who made the event special, and congratulations again to our awardees.
Year 7 Awards
- Janneke B
- Jessica B
- Lola B
- Gemma B
- Mithrem M
- Ciara M
- Christina M
- Mikaela T
- Sharrae T
- Alexander W
Year 8 Awards
- Caitlyn A
- Giselle B
- Georgia E
- Sophie E
- Joshua E
- Lily F
- Hudson H
- Joshua M
- Thomas M
- Laura O
Year 9 Awards
- Johannes B
- Leya B
- Imogen B
- Michela B
- Bethany B
- Charlotte B
- Michael C
- Molly E
- Christian G
- Boudene H
- Joshua M
- Maddison M
- Ebony M
- Tejas P
- Alisa R
- Angelina S
- Ryan W
- Ashleigh W
Year 10 Awards
- Lily F, Year 8 (100% in Health)
- Levi J, Year 8 (100% in Health)
- Isabelle R, Year 8 (100% in Health)
- Charlotte S, Year 8 (100% in Health)
- Bethany V, Year 8 (100% in Health)
- Matilda W, Year 8 (100% in Health)
- Boudene H, Year 9 (100% in Specialist Netball)
Mrs Christine Crump, Head of Middle School, addressed the attending students and guests with the following words:
“The desk I am sitting at is heavy and oaken. I write on vellum using ink. Both are scarce like jasper. Each quill is prepared by hand. It is meticulous work, like preparing the ink. The ink is made from charcoal and gum. It is challenging travail, but I enjoy it. Silence imbues, encases me, cocoons me. When I first arrived, it took me a while to adapt to this silence, the aloneness, the relentlessness of prayers, chanting and work. Few choose the path that I have. Fewer still take their vows.
I am writing in Latin, although it would be more accurate to say I am copying. My days are spent copying. There are very few people like us here who can read and write. Sometimes we teach the boys in the village. We visit the sick and poor to deliver relief, to share the sacrificial love shown to us. There is no morning sun to greet us when we rise, yet there is warmth in our work. There is no conversation at our meal, yet there is community. There is little variation to our routine, yet there is purpose.
It will take me a year to fully copy the book I have been charged with. I am a scribe. In time I may become the sacrist – the one in charge of all the books. A monastery, a monk, a bible, a vocation.
You [addressing attending students] sit on your bed rather than at a desk. You prefer the softness of the quilt and the way the pillows can be scrunched to sculpt your body. You write on your laptop, copious pages of material across a tapestry of subjects and contexts. Each page is meticulously crafted in content, but the keyboard strokes are effortless. Music imbues you, encases you, cocoons you. Ear buds rarely leave you. Nor do screens. It took you a while to adapt to the competing demands of time, the busyness, the milling of peers, and the work demands. Your routine is not always predictable. You play sport, dance, sing. There are many people like you here who can read and write….
This very night you will complete the bookwork you have been charged with. You are a learner. You co-own your learning, help set its direction –a school, a student, a textbook, a vocation.
A vocation is a type of work that you feel you are suited to doing and to which you should give all your time and energy. Most people, especially adults refer to vocation in the future tense, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ ‘You need to choose Physics for your career?’ as if you weren’t working now as a student. There isn’t time to convey the mounting research that indicates that strong learning behaviours are the discriminating factors of employment success – things like grit, effort ,curiosity, imagination. There is a strong alignment of evidence into successful school learning with these attributes.
As a Christian community I challenge us to reshape our understanding of vocation, and in doing so value the work of all ages, of those whose work is paid and unpaid, of future and present tense. We believe that all people are valuable to God, that all contribute to our community, that all have God-given gifts.
Congratulations Middle Schoolers. Thank you for making study your vocation. All of us here today honour you for doing so. Thank you to those who have partnered with you: teachers and parents. May you continue to use the gifts God has given you as you journey with us through the College.”
– Mrs Christine Crump, Head of Middle School