There is a particular kind of tiredness that arrives near the end of Term 3. You can see it in students. You can see it in staff. And, judging by some of the faces at morning drop-off, you can certainly see it in parents.
At the beginning of term, lunchboxes contained carefully sliced fruit, nutritious snacks and perhaps even something homemade. By this stage of the term, if there is food in the lunchbox and the lunchbox has made it into the school bag, we are calling that a win. School hats have developed their usual supernatural ability to disappear overnight, permission slips require forensic investigation, and sports uniforms are inevitably needed on the exact morning they are sitting at the bottom of the washing basket. Somewhere across our school community, a parent is currently saying, “But I reminded you THREE TIMES!”
We are nearly there.
At this stage of a term, it can be tempting to think that “finishing well” means finding another gear. Work harder, push through, get everything done, finish every assessment, attend every event, remember every uniform requirement, keep everyone cheerful, produce a nutritious dinner and maintain a reasonably clean house. And perhaps bake something for an event you discovered was happening approximately 11 minutes ago.
But perhaps finishing well doesn’t mean finishing perfectly. Perhaps it means something much simpler: continuing to show up.
For our students, that might mean completing the assignment when motivation has packed its bags and left for the holidays early. It might mean encouraging a teammate when the season has been long, having another attempt at something difficult, or choosing kindness when patience is wearing thin.
For parents, finishing well might mean accepting that dinner doesn’t need to be impressive every night, the house doesn’t need to be immaculate, and forgetting something on the school calendar does not constitute a parenting crisis. Sometimes cereal is a legitimate dinner option. I’m not necessarily recommending it, but neither am I judging.
For all of us, finishing well might simply mean extending a little more grace to the people around us. There is a verse in Galatians that says, “Let us not become weary in doing good” (Galatians 6:9). I like that it acknowledges something very human. Doing good can be tiring. Being patient can be tiring. Parenting can certainly be tiring. Teaching can be tiring. And convincing a teenager that 11:47pm is not the ideal time to begin an assignment due tomorrow can be particularly tiring.
The encouragement in this verse isn’t to pretend we’re not weary. It is to keep choosing what is good, even when we are. That is an important lesson for our young people.
We live in a culture that often celebrates the spectacular: the highest mark, the winning goal, the award, the performance, the university offer. These achievements deserve to be celebrated, and we are enormously proud of our students when they accomplish them. But much of character is formed in moments that nobody applauds.
It is the student who has another attempt at something they find difficult. It is the teenager who notices someone sitting alone. It is the child who owns a mistake rather than developing an extraordinarily detailed explanation involving their sibling, the dog and a completely unforeseeable sequence of events. It is choosing honesty when dishonesty would be easier, being kind when you’re tired, and turning up again tomorrow.
These are not always the moments that make it onto certificates, newsletters or social media posts, but they matter enormously.
As we approach the end of another busy term, perhaps our children don’t need us to ask, “How much more can you achieve before the holidays?” Perhaps a better question is, “How can you finish this term as the kind of person you want to be?” There is a significant difference. One focuses on output. The other focuses on character.
So, over these final days of term, let’s celebrate effort as well as achievement. Let’s notice kindness, encourage perseverance and allow tired people to be tired. And let’s remember that sometimes finishing well simply means continuing to put one foot in front of the other.
The holidays are coming. Until then, check the school calendar, locate the missing hat, sign the permission slip you’re fairly certain you already signed, lower the lunchbox standards if necessary, and keep going.
We’re nearly there.
Mike Curtis, Principal