And just like that we are at the end of another school year. It can be easy with the busyness of this time of year to get caught up in events and calendar reminders of where to be and when, but I wanted to take this opportunity to slow down and reflect on the highlights across the year.

Our Grade 5/6 Sports Roster, which I was lucky to be apart of earlier in the year, saw a group of netballers and footballers come together from all different experience levels and within a few weeks, the coaches could see an emerging sense of school spirit and teamwork. I remember on one of the bus rides, after a difficult game of football, overhearing a conversation among students in front of me. A few of them shared how disappointed they were with the final score and how defeated they felt, when one of the students confidently said, “Yeah, but we kept trying and we never gave up!” and after that comment each of the students sat up a little taller and the narrative of the conversation changed to recognise their efforts and how well they had done versing such an experienced team.  

I’ve shared before how wonderful the part of my job is where I get to present students with their home reading certificates but I am also fortunate to be someone who students are excited to come and share their reading growth with. A student this year had made some marked progress with their independent reading. While their classroom teacher shared the improvement in their reading behaviours and fluency, the student stood before me with a beaming smile and eyes that were lit up like a Christmas tree. The pride the student showed while their teacher spoke about their growth was obvious, and it was a special moment celebrating their achievement.

I can’t go past Book Week celebrations and the parade. The magic of the event doesn’t seem to fade over the years and the enthusiasm, passion, and enjoyment of students over the weeks' celebrations are always something special. The imagination and creativity of books comes alive in childrens' conversations leading up to the event, and especially on the day, as students share characters, storylines and favourite books with their peers and teachers. I’m reassured that I’m not the only one who values the week highly, as so many of the students I spoke to after the event, shared that their favourite part was seeing students dressed up, particularly the younger students who thoroughly enjoy dressing up.

On the first day of the Grade 5/6 camp in November I was with a group of students who were going on the flying fox. For those of you not familiar with the flying fox at Orford, it is quite a high one that goes over a lake. Students were excited to give it a go, and despite my fear of heights, I was encouraged by students to have a go too. One by one, students went down the flying fox and it came down to another student and I for the final turn. This student had very similar feelings as me and described the butterflies and shaky hands as it was our turn to go down. Helping us overcome these feelings was shouting from the bottom of the flying fox where the rest of the group waited for us. We heard encouragement and affirmation that we could do it and so the student and I looked at each other and with a “Let’s do it” we each had our turn going down to a cheering group.

As I stood in front of the entire school for our mural launch and listened to the choir perform, I considered how lucky we are to have such a vibrant and connected school community. One which I look forward to returning to in 2023. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our families a safe and merry Christmas from all the staff here at Lindisfarne Primary. We hope it is a holiday period full of time with loved ones and we look forward to hearing about the special memories made when students return on Wednesday 8 February.