The start of 2022 has been an interesting one. The borders finally opened up, COVID-19 spread like a wildfire delaying the start of the school term, and just when you thought all the interruptions were over, we had some of the heaviest rain I have ever seen, which resulted in flooding that rivalled 2011 floods in South East Queensland.
This has been tough on many, and more than ever before we have asked our students to dig deep and extract something from the chaos that would hopefully bring about growth and build resilience.

This year our Year 9s are embarking on a new Pastoral Care Program called “The Rite Journey”. 

In Week 7 of this term, we had our inaugural Rite Journey Ceremony, called ‘The Departure’, but before students could participate in this, they had to climb a mountain with me and answer the calling toward adulthood. On top of that mountain, it was time for our students to take stock of the people who had invested in their lives. There was a focus on the sacrifices that their parents made to get them to where they are today, and that it was time to pay back that sacrifice and honour their parents by making a pledge to everyday work on being the best versions of themselves, to start making decisions that reflect the hard work their parents have put into them and to start taking responsibility for their lives, putting aside childish behaviours and thought patterns and start contributing to their respective communities.  

It will be a year of challenge and growth for our Year 9s, and failure is expected because we can only truly learn and grow, once we stand up and wipe off the dust of our misgivings and truly learn from our mistakes.

We are looking forward to this journey with our Year 9s and are excited to see lives transformed.

Jarred Pienaar, Year Level Coordinator

GCC families can see all the photos on Pixevety here