The final term for the year is well under way and the big countdown has begun (only 9 weeks left). Whilst the students are largely focused on their transitions to high school, we have lots of work to get through before the year ends and a lot of fun stuff, too. One of the more challenging topics we’ll be looking at in history will be the early migration of the human species out of Africa. We’ll be examining the evidence which supports the scientific theory including DNA evidence, climatology and archaeology. We also have a lot of fun things to prepare, too, especially the graduation performance and the Chritmas carol song. So much to squeeze into such a short time – the pressure will be on!

The end of term holidays (in this case the end of term 3) can be a bit of a barren area when it comes to thinking of a blogging topic. Whilst some of our more prolific bloggers (Demi, Aimee, Abbey, Caitlin and Georgia) have managed to post there’s not a great deal for me to write about. I thought, therefore, that I’d give a quick mention to how the term went.

To be honest, term three was a bit of a weird one – full of ups and downs, positives and negatives, but on the whole it ended with a sense of the students showing real signs of growth and change. Of course, not all the changes we go through are positive, but if we are prepared to use them in a positive way and learn from them then they can become some of our strongest and most influential experiences. I’ve had the pleasure in seeing some of the students work through adversity with courage and dignity, yet emerge with their values and personalities in tact, even stronger in some cases. I can honestly say that there are some young people in this group who leave me with a strong sense of pride. When I see the things they do, the things they say and the way they behave it leaves me with an enormous respect for the amazing people they are. I know if I compared the person I was at their age with the people they are now then they’d be head and shoulders above me for all the right reasons.

Unfortunately, this group only has another ten weeks together. When they return to school they’ll only have a brief time before they wave goodbye to each other (no doubt through floods of tears) and go their separate ways. As we adults know from experience, nothing will be the same again. Some students will be the only ones from the class going to a particular school and may never see many of their friends again. Even those who go to the same high school will find their friendships change as they throw off their connections to their previous life and build new connections to their new one. Either way, things will change and mostly for the better. Change is good, it helps us to grow into the adults we eventually become. What we need to remember, though, are the lessons from each other, that no matter how “different” situations may become we can hold onto our values, our personalities, the things that make us who we are and that have helped us to get this far. All we need to do is look around us and we’ll see all the role models we need, right within our own classroom. I do, I see people who inspire me everyday and feel privileged to have shared their journey.

Enjoy the remaining time we have together!