The bittersweet building of resilience
This term our theme for Assemblies, Chapels and PC programs has been ‘resilience’. Both staff and students have unpacked what it means and what it takes to become resilient people. It is a difficult attribute to attain, because it comes through the pain of setback and disappointment.
For a young person, it is so important to have support in these times from family, friends and teachers. I want to commend our students for the positive way they have embraced building their own skills of resilience.
Year 12's have had to develop resilience through reshaping their expectations for graduation events. Year 11's have developed resilience through supporting their peers selected for student leadership, when they themselves may have missed out. The subject selection process has required resilience as students only manage to secure a back up preference or have been asked to reselect if a course they have chosen will not be running.
All students across the College from time to time need to call on their skills of resilience, to be able to concentrate on what can be learned from an assessment task in which they have underachieved. It is so difficult to see our students and children experience setbacks, but it has never been more important for them to learn to develop the resilience needed to cope, to refocus their energy and to see the joy in the struggle. For students to recognise that real pride can come from persevering through difficulty can sometimes be a painful process. This can make students better learners and more equipped young adults who are ready to face the challenges that post-school life will present them with.
The College is so blessed to have such a supportive parent community who understands the importance of the struggle and how vital it is in shaping the character of their children.
Thank you once again for partnering with us in this way!