What leaving school after 13 years feels like, unless you have been through it, can be hard to fathom. A mixture of emotions such as excitement, nervousness, wonder, sadness and joy can all be a part of this time. As adults, we have that recollection and can share some thoughts, wisdom and ideas with our Year 12 students who are right now undertaking the transition to ‘post-schooling’.

 

There are of course milestones in our life, where moving on to something new, something different and something unknown, involves a certain degree of risk. Sometimes calculated risk. Sometimes unknown, ‘leap of faith’ type risk! The notion that starting a new part of a journey means saying goodbye to something else is not just unique to schooling.

 

I think about travelling around the world. The joy of being in one European country, means saying farewell to new faces and places, only to experience another amazing country around the next turn. Just before Christmas last year, we said goodbye to our beloved cat of 22 years – only to be overwhelmed with a new type of joy that two new, feisty kittens brought into the household. When we leave a job, we farewell what was known, comfortable and secure to transition into something unknown where we must build relationships all over again.

 

So it is with our Year 12 students this week. Moving on from schooling life, 13 years of primary and secondary education, means saying goodbye. This goodbye is acknowledged through such moments as the Colour Run, the final R-12 Chapel this week, the planting of the Year 12 2019 tree and the Valedictory in November. 

 

Saying goodbye to the formal educational journey however is not saying goodbye to the community you were a part of forever though. All our students and families, including our leaving Year 12 students, make up the rich fabric of the history of Tatachilla. 

 

In this way, our students will always be a part of our community, always uniquely connected with stories, celebrations, memories and experiences. 

 

Saying goodbye is a recognition that the formal classes have come to a conclusion, that a new journey will commence for each student post Year 12, but in this same vein, recognising that each individual moves from being a student of the community to an Old Scholar of the community. Not physically onsite, but yet connected forever to community.

 

In this same theme, it was a delight to welcome our Old Scholars to our first ever 20 Year Reunion a fortnight ago. Students from the class of 1999 congregated on the grounds of the College, reliving stories and jokes, memories and experiences as they reconnected and reminisced about their time as a student.

 

We were blessed to have the attendance of staff from this same time including Mr Richard Bruss, Mr Harry Dewar, Mr Greg John and Mr Matt Schirmer. The ‘students’ still going up and having delight in saying “Hello, Mr Bruss, do you remember when…?”

 

So as we say goodbye to the Class of 2019, we also welcome them into the Old Scholars of 2019, joining a unique group of alumni who have been educated at Tatachilla and forever remain a part of the heart of our community.

 

Blessings and peace to all students, staff and families for the final term of the year.

 

PRINCIPAL