This week our school community had an opportunity to celebrate our unity in diversity as we acknowledged Harmony Day.
Whilst the world emphasises our differences and celebrates ethnicity, we choose to focus on the things that unite us. We are reminded that,
“From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” — Acts 17:26
So, on Harmony Day we reflected on this truth and celebrated our oneness as a community. You can see some more photos of this event via our Facebook page.
Recently, our student leaders participated in a leadership training retreat which was aimed at team building and providing them with skills to be an effective part of school leadership. The retreat was run by Nic and Libby Eduljee from the Boys and Girls Brigade, as well as our Heads of Primary and Secondary. It was encouraging to see the new student leaders work through ideas and articulate their vision for the school. They even managed to come up with an alternate mission statement for their tenure, which aligns perfectly with our organisational vision and mission statement. I have included our school captains’ reflections on these sessions for you:
We learnt all about being the best leaders we could be as a part of a group, better ways to communicate and the difficulty of working together without communication. We also discussed the best traits of a brilliant leader. Lastly, we discussed where we, as student leaders, wanted to take Emmanuel throughout this year and how we could do that. Our vision is for our school to be “a Christian learning environment where all students feel included, respected, safe and loved”. — Kaitelyn & Joel
This year, NAPLAN came a little earlier but as with previous years, our students successfully managed to work through it. Thank you for the support you gave to our participants in reducing their anxieties. We also thank our staff that remained committed and worked hard to ensure that our students were ready for the NAPLAN sessions. The use of data to inform our teaching and learning decisions remains a key strategic priority and as such, data from these tests remain invaluable.
You may have noticed increased traffic signage within the school. I would like to remind our community that the school as a shared zone has a speed limit of 10km/h. Please continue to observe the speed limit on school property. The safety of pedestrians and other road users is our collective responsibility.
There is so much that needs to be done within our school and every extra hand makes a difference. If you are interested in volunteering opportunities within the school, please contact us or our Community Engagement Committee.
Within the teaching and learning space, we are promoting positive learning behaviours. Such behaviours include being in class every school day, on time, prepared and ready to learn. Each of our students in high school has a school diary that parents are expected to sign. This approach is not for managing behaviours or in pursuit of an ATAR score, but to instil a valuing of learning, as well as promote student agency in their learning. We need to remind our students both at home and in school that learning is their responsibility. They need to productively engage with yourselves and the school staff for their holistic growth and achievement. This is in line with our vision to be a transformational Christian learning community, believing that a learning school is a progressive school.
Our Whole School Easter Assembly is scheduled for Wednesday week. At this assembly, some of our classes will be showcasing their work to the whole school. This whole school event provides an opportunity for us to come together and Parents Carers who are available to attend can celebrate Easter with us.
“Now I am certain that God treats all people alike. God is pleased with everyone who worships him and does right, no matter what nation they come from”. — Acts 10:34-35
May God bless our school, state, and country. Emmanuel!
Lifeas Kapofu — Principal
