END OF TERM ONE MESSAGES From the Chaplain and Chair of School Council

ELEANOR LEWIN

CHAIR OF SCHOOL COUNCIL

CHALLENGE IS EVERYWHERE

The word “challenge” has a wide area of meaning, among these are “testing one’s ability, endurance, a challenging course, a challenging game, stimulating, interesting and thought provoking, a challenging suggestion” the list goes on.

FR. EARLE CHAMBERLAIN

SCHOOL CHAPLAIN

Chaplain’s Easter Message

Food - As we know there are many ways to prepare the same meal. I could come to a table that is beautifully laid out with fancy table ware, with a large T-bone steak, mashed potatoes, parsley peas, a sculptured salad garnished with cheese, and a Pavlova piled high with strawberries and whipped cream.

A second kind of the same meal could consist of one huge bowl of food served on a bare table with the steak, the peas, the mashed potatoes, the salad, and the Pavlova, all mixed together.

The 2 meals are equally nourishing but not equally appetizing.

The way we internalize or think and externalize or show our faith and beliefs can have just as much variation. Our Faith in God is also to be enjoyed and experienced.

Easter also has different ways we can prepare for it. In looking back on the history of our school Georgiana Molloy Anglican School (GMAS) we faced from the very beginning challenges to build this school. Fr Tom Wilmot (now Bp Tom retired) formed the first School Steering Committee in 1997 with the aim to build an Anglican School in this region. There were many challenges along the way, one by one they were overcome and here we are today in our 18th Year celebrating our “challenge”.

During the week of our Foundation Day celebrations Ms Jo Burns said: “From small beginnings, we have come a long way and made some incredible milestones in regards to achievement in sporting, cultural and academic endeavours”.

At the beginning of this year Mr Kosicki issued this challenge: Mr Kosicki quoted philosopher Will Durant: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Let’s start this year off right and make active learning our habit in every class in 2021.

Our GMAS Junior girls tennis team were challenged in February when they competed against a number of other regional teams in the 2021 Sun Smart Schools Tennis Classic and were crowned the South West Herbert Edwards Cup Girls Champions.

Mr Connor Martin, set two separate challenges for Early Childhood and Junior School students. To the Early Childhood students, the challenge was for them to carry their own bag at drop off and pick up times, rather than an adult doing it for them. This is to assist with building resilience and installing a sense of personal responsibility. To the Junior School students, the challenge for them was to be vigilant with litter around the school, and to model our school value of Respecting Our Environment to others by picking up any litter that they see laying around. Mr Martin has observed, both challenges have been taken up well.

Mr Kosicki on congratulating all the competitors in our recent swimming carnivals said “I commend those swimmers who found some races and the distance to swim challenging. These swimmers did their very best in adverse circumstances and gained much valued House Points for their respective teams, they also faced up to their inner challenges – and won. Each swimmer was a winner on the day!

Challenge is everywhere, each and every day at Georgiana Molloy Anglican School.

The Journey of Easter starts with Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the crowds gather and palm branches are waved to welcome the king. This is Palm Sunday.

A few days later Jesus gathers with his friends for the Last Supper he is arrested, this is Maundy Thursday, the following day he is crucified, hung on a cross to die, this is Good Friday.

Three days later the tomb where his body was laid is empty, He is Risen, this is Easter Sunday, and the day we get the chocolates. The season of Easter lasting 50 days not one is the journey from being hailed as king, to death, then to resurrection.

Easter Sunday and the season of Easter is born as the season of new life and renewal.

Some of the ways we live out our faith and relate with God are just as appealing or unappealing as the different ways a meal can be prepared but can be equally nourishing.

The lessons we learn from Easter is that even though bad things happen in life if we hang in there long enough, we allow for good things to happen also.