Elizabeth Porter, Secondary Teacher
Spring has finally sprung! Officially, Spring began two months ago, but the weather didn’t match our expectations. It’s taken its time to warm up this year, and after cooler temperatures and so much rain, flowers are blooming. Jacaranda blossoms, characteristic of November, are starting to fill our skylines.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-4
This time of year is quite significant for some of our students. It is the end of one season and the dawning of another. In a few days we will be hosting Year 7 Orientation, then Orientation mornings for Prep and Kindergarten. It’s “a time to plant”. Soon, Year 6 will be finishing Primary School. These occasions are milestones for parents, as much as their children.
For our senior students, the HSC examinations concluded last Friday and on Thursday this week, Year 12 will have their Graduation Assembly in the morning and their Graduation Dinner in the evening. It’s “a time to dance”. From here, they step out of Kuyper and move into the next chapter of their lives. This could be “a time to uproot”, but perhaps it is more of a transplant because we hope they are already “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17). We trust that our students will not only love their school enough to come back and visit us, but that they will carry with them what they have learned here and allow it to impact their worldview and their decisions. For our Graduates, we say farewell with some sadness, but also with excitement, as we see how they have matured. We anticipate God’s leading of their futures.
Today and tomorrow, the majority of our Year 10 and 11 students are participating in the inaugural Kurrajong Programme Orientation Week camp, as they become our new Year 11 and 12. Students will participate in a series of activities, including an Amazing Race, a sleepover and several teaching sessions designed to prepare them for Stage 6. Then, a new set of compressed Stage 6 Elective courses begin, with students choosing from a variety of face-to-face, VET and Distance Education courses. As exciting as this is, what is most important is our students’ personal and spiritual growth. We hope, pray and encourage all Kuyper students to develop the desire to follow Christ closely, view the world through the lens of the Bible, and seek resilience, wisdom, faith and compassion that will be reflected in action as they serve their communities. Through the Kurrajong Programme, each student will have a staff mentor. As well as growing learners, the Kurrajong Programme is about inspiring leaders. Students will discover new opportunities for service and leadership, in a range of activities, over the next year and beyond. We are very excited to be planning our trip to Vanuatu for 2023. This experience enables students to bring joy to children in a country which does not have the same creature comforts or opportunities as we experience, and yet, can teach us something about contentment, lifestyle and materialism.
The Kurrajong Tree (Brachychiton populneus) is the logo of the Kurrajong programme. This tree is native to our area, has bright flowers and a beautiful shape, providing shade. Its water-retaining capabilities make it drought resistant and hardy. Similarly, Kuyper aims to nurture well-grounded students who have developed the qualities they need to flourish and mature in a variety of situations.
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace… He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:6-11
For 35 years, Arthur Stace wrote the word “Eternity” in chalk around Sydney, provoking people to think about life after death. Deep down, we know that Creation must have been made by a Creator, and there is a desire in our hearts for a peaceful eternity, free from suffering. In this special season of conclusions and new beginnings, let us celebrate His promises and His timing.