It has been an honour and a privilege to lead the Junior School and to get to know you and your children. It has been an amazing journey watching the College grow from being a small K – 9 school when I started with about 400 students to the Prep to 12 College we have now with almost 1800 students. I have seen the growth of the area as well, originally we were a country school surrounded by paddocks, dams, goats, pigs and horses now we sit in the middle of suburbia. What an achievement, I am so proud of the College community.
Many people have asked me what I will have loved the most in my time at the College and I always say watching the children enter the College as 4 or 5 year olds, eager to learn and like sponges ready to soak up all their new experiences, supporting them through their journey at school and then seeing them graduate as outstanding young men and women as they leave Year 12. It has always been important to me that we prepare our students to enter the real world with more than just academic knowledge but that we prepare them to be part of a community that they can contribute to.
I have been privileged to go on life’s journeys with so many of you. I have celebrated milestones, laughed with you and in some cases cried. There have been some amazing successes as well as some real tragedies across my time here. The close Thomas Hassall community really shines in those most difficult times and I thank you all for how you have loved and supported me and the College through those times.
Preparing our students for life beyond the classroom is a team effort and if I was to leave you with one piece of wisdom it would be to work together with the College and the teachers, continue to trust and to talk through issues as they arise. I would also add to help us to give your children wings so that they can fly, encourage them to love challenges, face difficulties, solve problems and to support them but not rescue them.
Finally, I would like to say that I have loved praying and sharing the gospel with the families and children at the College. Christmas is a time where we remember Jesus’ birth and what that means for us. God sent his Son so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with Him. What an amazing gift that we can all receive, we just have to trust in Him and take Jesus into our hearts to be our King.
Thank you all, I will miss so much about my working life but I am ready to look forward to the next chapter God has planned for me. I will continue to be praying for you all and I know that Mrs Wheeler will take up from where I have left off and the College will continue to go from strength to strength. Thank you for the many gifts, cards and words of encouragement, Thomas Hassall really is a special community that I have loved being a part of and I will definitely miss.
God Bless and have a wonderful Christmas and a relaxing break with family and friends.
