Gratitude, Growth, and Giving Back: Reflections from the Headmaster

Dear Somerset Community

Welcome back to Term two. It’s a short week as we move so quickly from Easter to Anzac Day, and we celebrated both services in our Senior School within three days!

Interestingly, there are so many parallels that can be drawn between the message of Easter and the message of ANZAC Day. At their core, both events should cause us to recognise what has been done for us. At Easter, we give thanks for Jesus’ death and resurrection, restoring people to a right relationship with God and the joy and purpose that brings. On ANZAC Day we also stop and give thanks for others who have sacrificed for us and just as importantly, for those who continue to serve.

One of the great challenges of our current society is that we so often get presented with images and examples of what we need and we can therefore spend a lot of time thinking about ourselves, our own lives, and in doing so, it is so easy to forget or let slide the notion of what it means to give, to serve.

The notion of laying down one’s life is best exemplified in the person of Jesus, who died because of his love for each and every one of us, and in rising to life, conquered death. It’s an incredible story of hope and of grace. It was a sacrificial action that we didn’t deserve, it was done out of love and a deep desire to be in relationship with us.

Those who have served in our armed forces didn’t bear the world on their shoulders, but their willingness to lay down their lives for us is just as powerful. Their commitment, their sacrifice is what we remember on ANZAC Day.

As parents and educators, I believe we have a responsibility to talk with, but also model to our children about the concept of sacrificially serving others. It’s sadly something that isn’t easily seen around us, and there is the temptation also to shield our children from unknown risk or challenge. The reality is that when we serve, giving something of ourselves to others, that’s when we begin to learn more about ourselves, we develop resilience and we learn what it means to be truly human, in community with others. Perhaps more than just talk, these lessons need to be learnt through opportunities.

I’ve undertaken the Kokoda Challenge both on the Gold Coast and Brisbane many times over the years and each time I work with a team of senior students, we work together on a physical and mental journey as we train and then complete the 48km challenge. For me, these moments of serving, of learning are such a key part of holistic education. I acknowledge this and other incredible opportunities that Somerset provides for our students to learn about service to others.

Easter and ANZAC are key events that remind us of what others have done for us, and for this, we remember, feel gratitude, give thanks and more importantly, respond. How we respond is ultimately up to us, but the challenge is there.

Chris Ivey
Headmaster