Finishing Strong Together

Last Monday, we were incredibly proud of our Year 12 students as they commenced their Mock exams. The mock exams provide our students an opportunity to challenge themselves and to determine the necessary adjustments that are needed as they head towards their QCAA External Exams, commencing in six weeks. As we watch over them each day, applying their knowledge and skills and implementing their individual exam techniques, we cannot help but to reflect on everything that has led them to this point.

In fact, it has been 13 years in the making, each year building on the previous, each relationship strengthening confidence and a sense of well-being and each event solidifying skills. Parents would attest, the years go so quickly, yet here we are, on the final stretch. It is always a privilege to work with Year 12, to be their mentors and facilitators of this crucial year in their education. Guided by our Year 12 concepts of ‘priority, sacrifice and balance’ we have watched our Year 12 students strike that all important balance among school, family, sport, cultural pursuits, artistic endeavours, and social and recreational activities. Working with their teachers we have witnessed that unique relationship between students and staff that is so evident at Somerset. Our teachers and students striving toward a common goal, working on challenges, or seeking clarity during various tutorials and at other times, just enjoying a much-needed laugh or story together. And then of course, we are witness to our student’s support of each other which was so evident during their weekly study dinners. An exciting mix of revision and group think, working together to seek clarity, solutions and general assistance while sharing a meal. There is no shortage of guidance and genuine care between staff and students and between the students themselves.

Like you, I am sure, we are proud of our Year 12 students and the way they have navigated their final year, assessments and of course their current Mock exams. We also recognise that as students move towards their final weeks of school it is a time of much excitement and of course some trepidation about what is to come. While it is normal to experience some anxiety around the forthcoming events, we reassure our young people this is a normal part of life and at times such as these, our strength lies in our preparation. Their preparation is what they can control. I draw on the words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where he tells his audience there is no way to know or predict what will happen … that ‘there’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow ...

if it be now, ‘tis not to come;

if it be not to come; it will be now;

if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.’

What we can deduce from this quote is the power, we as individuals have, is the readiness. Our Year 12 students have 13 years of preparation behind them and this year we have watched in awe for all they have undertaken. In six weeks, they will commence those final exams, yet their results will be so much more than just an end score. Their results will be witness to their commitment, perseverance, resilience, growth mind-set, time management, and organisation; to their ability to be prepared. In due course, there will be so many reasons to celebrate the success of our young people, to rejoice in their journey and all that lies ahead for them … but for now, as a community, we remain focused on the ‘readiness’ of each student, working together, shoulder to shoulder, towards their personal success.