Principal’s Remarks at 2024 Year 12 Graduation

Over the years, I have given you plenty of pieces of advice, most of it from others. So much so that you have come to expect it of me to share strange or wonderful little snippets and vignettes. For those of you who came through Primary at NBCS, I talked about the hallmarks of a great school, where there is high performance but low stress. It’s one where there is lower anxiety but higher cultural capital. It’s a place where students enjoy each other’s success. I hope that we have been able to be this for you. I talked about the importance of character, effort, and relationships. In that regard, not much has changed. They are three of the six things that we hope that you leave with today: Values, Effort, Learning, Character, Relationships and Opportunities. Your world is bigger because of your time here, because of who you now are, and because of what you take away with you.

Last year, my first piece of advice to you was that Year 12 would be full and busy and sometimes overwhelming, but it will also be wonderful and fun and enriching. Life continues through Year 12, and so should your interests and the things that refresh you. And managing it all in your stride will be great preparation for life beyond school. I hope that this has been true for you all Year 12. We think that you have done a magnificent job of navigating the year and all its challenges and joys. And there have been serious challenges.

When you were in Year 10, I asked you whether or not you could define success. I said to you that success is individually located. I acknowledged that it might sound weird or wrong because when we think about success, we often think that it comes by winning. In sport, there is only one winner, and often, many losers. But in life, there can be lots of winners, and wins don’t necessarily have to come at the expense of others. It is possible for us to succeed together. Success does not have to be a zero-sum game. Success is not just about achieving our goals; it’s not just about getting the right result. It’s about the right result in the right way.In his book Dream Small, Seth Lewis writes this; “Shared joy is deeper than lonely success; friendship is happier than wealth; and people are more precious than anything on Earth.” So perhaps success is a together thing, not an alone thing. While we might locate success individually, it shouldn’t be something achieved at the expense of others.

In Year 9 I talked about the heart of education – learning, and character. Both equip us to deal with the uncertainty of the future. Learning is the ability to make sense of the unknown by connecting it with the known. And character is who we are when no one is watching.  We have always wanted you to be people of character, people of courage, people of compassion. We have longed for you to be people who can share ideas and disagree in a way that considers different approaches, different views, and different conclusions. And I think that you have been able to do this Year 12 and do it well. I noted that the quality of your relationships will determine the quality of your life. The better the quality of your friendships and relationships, the better the quality of your life. Education is about so much more than marks, it’s about who you are. I don’t think that you ever lost sight of this. Character is key.

When you were in Year 8, we talked about gratitude, and Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf who said, “Without gratitude we cannot feel at home”. Gratitude grounds us, it stills our restless longings and helps to give us proper perspective in our lives. Therefore, wherever and whenever it is possible, be grateful. It might not change your circumstances, but it will change your perspective and therefore will change your life.Margaret Heffernan said “Most of us inevitably compare ourselves to others at some point. Chronic comparing leads to misery. What matters is not what we do compared to what someone else does, it’s what we do compared to what we’re capable of doing.” Be grateful and stop comparing yourself to others. If you must rate yourself, rate yourself against the past. Stop comparing yourself to others, start comparing yourself to you. Are you kinder, are you more diligent, more thoughtful, more focused? Those are the questions to keep asking, those are the comparisons to make.

When you were in Year 7, I encouraged you to take head of the words of Daniel H Burham, who said, “Make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir people’s blood…make big plans, aim high in hope and work”. I wanted to encourage you as 12- and 13-year-olds to make big plans even though I was pretty sure you hadn’t done that yet. But part of the point of school is to figure out who you are, what you like, what you are good at, and then make plans about what you might do with that. As you finish school, I again encourage you to make big plans. I again encourage you to aim high in hope and work and life.So, to summarise the advice I have given you over the years and add three final thoughts.

Here’s the summary: high performance, low stress environments are possible. Managing the challenges and joys of the final years of school will set you up for what’s next. In the busyness of life, don’t drop the things that energise you. Success is an individual thing, but it doesn’t have to come at the cost of others. Learning and effort and character really matter for life, but the quality of your relationships with determine the quality of your life. Gratitude will give you the perspective you need to make sense of life. Stop comparing yourself to others. Make plans that stir you to action. Don’t be so afraid of failure that you fail to start.

And to finish, three final thoughts.The first, from John Mark Comer. Take care what you pay attention to. “What you give your attention to is the person you become…The mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to”.

Focus on what is worthwhile. It will shape you.

The second, from Charles Dickens. “While there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

Wherever and whenever possible, laughter is magic. Find fun that you can share.

And finally, from the Bible in 1 John chapter 4, “…since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.”

Love others like God loves you.