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From Preps to Grads: In the Blink of an Eye
As I’m writing this article, I can hear the joyful voices of our students leaving the Primary Dance. Yet again we’ve enjoyed a warm afternoon, a great school community BBQ provided by CPC, with music and fun activities hosted by our amazing Primary teachers.
Each term seems to fly by but there’s still lots happening before the term break. This week we welcome the families of our youngest learners for 2024, with Prep and Kindergarten information evenings. We have also welcomed the families to recognise and celebrate the students’ work of those who attend High School’s Learning Support.
Next week we will be hosting a series of further celebrations to mark the graduation of our current Year 12 cohort. This group is particularly significant, because this is the graduating cohort of our first ever Prep School class. These students have spent the last 14 years learning and growing at William Carey Christian School.
Above: From Preps to Grads: Year 12 construction students who started at WCCS in prep and are preparing to graduate!
The Prep School first opened in 2010 and has been led by Mrs Anne Belling throughout this time, working with an incredible team of teachers and learning support aides. Right from the start, the philosophy of our Prep School has been to facilitate experiential learning in a relational environment. Students learn through exploration, discovery and play, gaining confidence amongst peers, within a classroom environment. Classrooms and programs are designed to help students flourish, as an authentic expression of Christian education.
Thinking back to 2010, it’s astonishing just how quickly the years pass by. I’m sure that for these families, it feels like just yesterday the Prep School welcomed these young and eager students with the theme of ‘Going on a bear hunt!’ Now, in the blink of an eye, they are preparing to graduate as Year 12 students, marking the end of their journey with us and commencing the next phase of their journey onto work or further study.
Over the past 14 years, this group has navigated the ups and downs of primary and secondary education, learned valuable life lessons, worked through big changes (including learning from home through lockdowns), formed lifelong friendships and have grown to become young adults, both physically but also in their character.
In a world moving faster than ever, it’s important to pause and consider how far our Year 12 cohort have come. Graduation allows us to look both forward and back, with a mixture of pride in their accomplishments with tinges of sadness and nostalgia. I encourage our students to take a moment amidst the celebrations to reflect on the many wonderful memories they have and to take the opportunity to thank their teachers. Not only those who cared and shepherded them through their senior years, but also those who have invested at different points along the way.
As our Year 12 students take their next steps, they carry with them the lessons, attributes, and experiences they’ve gained here. They serve as reminders that, though time may pass in the blink of an eye, the memories and bonds created at school are enduring.
As you graduate, we want you to know that the WCCS staff and school community hold many enduring hopes for you. The greatest hope we have, is that you will find your identity and purpose in Christ. That you will know God, his grace and come to see yourself and your world as he does.
Class of 2023, you will always hold a special place in the history of our school.
Congratulations, and go well.
God bless,
Mr Keith McMullen
Principal
