THE DRAGON

From the Principal

Tina Campbell

Success, they say, is something that you define for yourself. No one can do it for you and it is measured by what engages and energises us. Success will be different for each of us as we all have a different mix of strengths and talents that help us to define our own version of what success means. What matters is that we each create our own definition of what it means to succeed and therefore have our own formula for success. Each of our versions of success should be unique to us.

To succeed is to accomplish one’s dreams. It is to have a sense of accomplishment and achievement although success is not to be confused with winning.

My hope as Principal is that as we begin to think about the end of Semester One that there is chatter amongst both students and staff about the degree of success or otherwise that has occurred throughout our 20 weeks together. What have we accomplished this semester? Have we achieved the goals that we set ourselves for the commencement of the 2023 academic school year?

For some students they will be celebrating achieving top marks in their recent examinations, for others, like Niamh (pictured above), it is likely that success for her will be receiving the news that she has been selected as a Youth Rotary Exchange participant for 2024 (full details on our Superstars page). Some students will be proud of their successful completion of Year 8 Camp, whilst others will have accomplished success on the sporting field. There will be many of our new students who will be celebrating their newfound friendships and for some making it through a whole day of school without getting lost or exhausted by the never-ending flights of stairs will be cause for celebration. Whatever successes have occurred, there is indeed much that has been accomplished this semester by all within the St George’s Family.

What is certain is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to success. It is unique to us as individuals as our DNA and that through our goal setting, we set our own template for success.

Sometimes success will escape us, yet the biggest success often comes from our failures. As Churchill said “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts’’. Whether we have made huge strides towards our successes this semester or not quite reached our own targets for achievement, it is that resolve to never give up, to persevere even when life gets tough, that adds to our strength of character and allows us to find the resilience to weather the storms we inevitably face in our life.

The key to success is first to establish what we want, what we desire, what would make us happy, and then set our goals to achieve this. As we enter the final weeks of Semester One, I wish all our students’ as well as St George’s staff personal success; to determine and embrace their own self-worth and to create their own success story. I encourage them to remember their character,