Welcome to Term 4. Can you believe that we are starting the last term of the year? It may be just me, but it feels like this year is flying by. 

 At the end of last year, I was gifted a small bamboo plant. I must admit, I am not much of a gardener. I certainly don’t have a green thumb. Plants don’t seem to do well when I am left to look after them. However, this year, I have managed to keep a plant not only alive, but it seems to be thriving.  

I have kept it near my kitchen sink and as I look out the window, seeing the plant has prompted me to water it and care for it more often than other plants in my house. As I look at it today, I have realised that it has grown quite a bit this year and is about twice the size it was when I received it. The growth has been steady over the year, and it is not until now, as I look at it that I realize just how much it has grown. It probably grew a little bit each day, but as I looked at it each day the difference in size was not noticeable.  

It reminds me of a children’s novel by Roald Dahl called Esio Trot. In the book, a lady owns a pet tortoise and is concerned that it is not growing. Without the lady knowing, her neighbour replaces the tortoise with another tortoise that looks the same, but which is only slighter bigger. This goes on for a few weeks, with the tortoise being swapped every few days for one a bit larger than the one before. The owner talks to her pet tortoise every day but doesn’t notice the change in size until one day she looks at the tortoise, thinks that it looks bigger, and decides to weigh it. It is only then that she realises just how much larger the tortoise is and how much it has grown. Of course, in this story the tortoise didn’t actually grow as quick as the owner was led to believe, but it illustrates the point that when we see things every day, we often don’t see the changes that are happening.  

Term 4 is a time we begin to look back and see the immense amount of progress that students have made over the year. Teachers set work to consolidate skills and knowledge, assign more independent work and begin the process of writing end-of-year reports. We put together Learner Profile folders and watch the faces of our students as they look back over their work for the year and recall the learning experiences that they have been a part of over many months. We know that progress happens with each learning experience, but sometimes we don’t see the amount of progress until we look back at where we started and compare it to where we are now.  

As I look ahead on the school calendar for Term 4, there are many wonderful events planned for our students and families. Next week, our Upper Primary students will be presenting a musical to their parents and families. After many weeks of preparation, planning, learning lines, rehearsing songs, and working together to create items, our students will be standing in front of an audience – their family and friends - showcasing their talents and presenting the product of their hard work. We will be able to see the incredible growth that these students have made over the past few months as they have worked together to prepare this exciting event for our school community.  

Time seems to pass so quickly and as a parent of a student who is about to finish high school in a few weeks’ time, it is even more apparent to me how quickly our children change. You may have noticed it when your children put on their summer uniform this week and you saw how much they have grown physically since the end of Term 1.  

This week, and over the course of this busy and fast-paced term, I encourage you to take time to pause, reflect, and affirm your children for the amazing things that they have achieved, and are achieving this year, and that you relish the opportunities to celebrate their learning with them.