The Power of our Words

This week, I have been reflecting on a message that I heard at the start of the year about the power of words. Apparently, humans average at least 7000 words spoken per day! Obviously, the stage of life and a range of other factors play a huge role in how close you get to this number, but regardless, we probably don’t realise how much we can say in a day. Each and every day.

The old schoolyard saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” is probably one of the most inaccurate myths that were ever developed. Words hold such power and can influence our interactions with each other both positively and negatively on a scale that we can never really anticipate. Our focus in the Middle College this term has centred around us being part of community. As a community, we want to be able to support each other through our words in a way that builds each other up on a daily basis. We celebrate the achievements of others; offer words of encouragement to those who might be down; and restore broken relationships with acknowledgement of our own mistakes and words of forgiveness.

As we approach a busy time of the term, we celebrate all that we have accomplished over the first seven weeks and offer words of encouragement to all as they complete assessments and focus on finishing the term off strongly. There are still so many exciting and engaging things happening over the last three weeks of the term and I wish everyone all the best as they approach a well-deserved break. I hope that we can continue to use our words and actions to support others and help our community to grow in positive ways, each and every day.

International Women’s Day

We look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day together on Friday morning at our annual breakfast. This morning is always a strongly attended event and allows us to celebrate the role of women in our lives and appreciate all their gifts and talents. It is great that we have the opportunity to come together as a community to support each other in this way. We particularly thank the hospitality department and all who worked on preparing the morning breakfast, for their tireless work and the quality of the food they always supply.

Year 4-9 Disco: Back to the 80s/90s Friday 17^th March

The PLC Disco is one of the highlights for students in Term One, and it is only one week away. This year, students from Years 4-9 will have the opportunity to attend the “80s/90s” themed disco which will be held in the PLC gymnasium on Friday 17^th March from 5.00pm until 7.00pm. Cost is $5 per student and the funds raised will go to the Australian Lutheran World Services to support the work they do across Australia and overseas. Parents are requested to please collect their children from the gymnasium at 7.00pm so that all are accompanied by an adult as they leave. All students must register (via the link sent out earlier this week) by Wednesday 15th March. It is sure to be a great night for all involved with prizes and games, along with music and dancing.

NAPLAN

We wish Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 all the best in their NAPLAN tests next week. These tests are a good way of gaining academic data on how our students are tracking. The Year 9 leaders gave a special message of encouragement on assembly this week to the Year 7 and 9 students, as well as some important tips for them as they prepare for these special tests. It is important that they all do their very best and we look forward to celebrating their hard work once they are completed. We thank the teaching and learning team and all staff who have been instrumental in preparing each cohort for these tests, and especially Mrs Jo Belchamber for her organisation and efforts with the Middle College to set our students up for success.

Mr Mark Hauser, Director of Students