Can I extend a very warm welcome to all our students and families from all of us at Parkes Christian School. It is so great to be back at school again with all your happy faces. This year we start the school year with 315 students, our biggest enrollment to date. While we aren’t chasing growth, it is certainly exciting to see so many students and families choosing to be part of all the great things we have to offer in 2023.
This year we have a fantastic staff lineup including a few new faces. All staffing details are included in this week’s newsletter, including a full staff list for your information. The calendar of events has been emailed to all parents providing a full overview of all events in 2023, including excursions, hot food days, dress ups and other opportunities for students to get involved in something outside of normal school routines. It is our hope that providing you with a full overview of events will help families with your own planning and week to week routines. In any case, it is shaping up to be the best year ever for all our students from K-12!
I hope you managed to enjoy some quality time with family and friends over the holiday period. It has been really nice hearing plenty of stories from the students about their adventures. I had a really great break over Christmas and enjoyed getting out and about enjoying some time near the water and doing some exploring. I certainly have a few fishing stories I could share, but will save them for another newsletter perhaps! It has left me feeling refreshed, inspired and ready to give all of you my best in 2023.
As a staff we spent a week together before students arrived this week. It was a valuable time for us to get in and focus ourselves for the year ahead with plenty of careful planning and preparation. We began each morning as a staff, exploring our theme for 2023 which is ‘The Beautiful Simplicity of the Gospel’. This theme also extends to simplicity in education, something I am particularly passionate about!
It is our greatest privilege to be in Christian education. As I often reinforce, alongside teaching student outcomes well, our role is to effectively partner with churches and families to deliver consistent, safe and accurate teaching and learning on the Bible with a heavy focus on the life of Jesus and the gospel message. We are most definitely not a church, but a school. As we focus this year on the simplicity of the gospel message, I am praying that all our students will be encouraged and inspired to continue learning about God as a lifelong journey. How encouraging it is to know that all of us are made by God for a purpose; that all of us have the ability and opportunity to live lives that honour God by meeting the needs of others each and every day. There is power in the gospel, and power in schools and families partnering together to raise young men and women who are confident, equipped and excited to live a life of purpose in all they do. What an opportunity we have!
So as we get into the year, let me thank you for partnering with us in education. Can I encourage you to get in touch with me if you ever want to discuss areas of interest of concern. I am always happy to chat! Let’s all continue the great work in 2023 of educating our most valuable resource, your kids!
Have a great week and I hope to see you all at our Welcome BBQ next Tuesday evening!
Glen
