Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. — Hebrews 13:7-8
A definition of 'change' is 'make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.' Change is seldom something we like or look forward to. As I see it, in a time of change, the fear of future unknowns and missing what we had before the change can cause us to experience stress and anxiety.
Emmanuel Christian School - our student, staff and parents community - has excelled with change around COVID-19. When this virus started to impact us in 2020, we rallied to help our students through a tough time. The distance learning period and the blended learning on either side of it pushed everyone to their limits, but we got through it together and with God's blessing.
There was apprehension about coming back to school this year after two months with the borders open. Again, we have made the start of 2022 work well. We are seeing COVID-19 positive cases and quite a few close contacts. The support for the school by families has been great. Students are supported as best as possible at home.
Emmanuel and Christian Schools Tasmania leadership has spent a lot of time working together to ensure school life can continue as smoothly as possible.
The same care and attention will be given to the change of Principal. I have been blessed to be Principal since May 2014. Our CEO, Mr Gillman, has been working with Mr Roberts and I on a plan to ensure continuity of care in the school's running once I finish. More details will come out shortly.
Needless to say, once the interim school leadership structure has been announced, any concerns of change will be further positively supported and mitigated.
Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying, 'The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.' The Emmanuel community can be credited with high collective intelligence and adaptability. The question is never about if there is going to be change. The real questions are: 'When will the next change be required of us?" and 'How we will work together to deal with it?'
Our Lord Jesus, as we are told in Hebrews 13:8, is the same yesterday and today and forever. In the midst of change, we have the security of an unchanging saviour who watches over us all the time.
Scott Winkler — Principal