Staff
From the
College Principal
As I stood with my family watching one of the few fireworks displays in Queensland for the start of the New Year, I was reminded that, for many people, that deep certainty that the new year would bring back the world of the past, had been replaced with a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty. This has only proven to be the reality of 2021. If the buzz term for 2020 was “unprecedented times”, then 2021 has been marked by the “new normal” - a time of digging deep, perseverance, the re-evaluation of what is truly important in our lives, accompanied by intentionality around our relationships. For many members of our community at Redeemer, the need for school as family has never been more important, when for many, our biological families have been separated by the current pandemic. For our staff, this year has been a time of ongoing innovation, building on the remote learning periods of last year, whilst understanding the deep learning and connectedness that face-to-face teaching brings. As I write this article, for the first time in my thirty plus years of teaching I, along with my colleagues and senior students, attend school each day with a mask covering our faces. It has only reinforced how much of our communication with others is conveyed through our facial expressions. 2021 has also stretched us all to deeply connect in new ways.
4 COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
REDEEMER REFLECTIONS 2021
I asked at the start of the year ”how do we move forward in uncertain times”? The answer was clear; God asks us to live in hope. “You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.” Job 11:18 As educators, it is ever more important for us to look forward to see where the world is going. It’s difficult for adults and children to look at the times around us and be optimistic about our future. But it is a lot easier to be hopeful. What is the difference between optimism and hope? The difference is subtle but powerful. “Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief that, together, we can make the world better” Jonathan Sacks. Optimism can be seen as a positive emotion. A feeling of confidence that something you want will happen, such as, we will be safe if we just close our borders. But optimism can be a fickle friend. When things do not turn out, it can quickly flip into helplessness, as COVID cases rise. Adopting hope, on the other hand, can help you through even the most challenging experiences. Hope is more steadfast than optimism. It is born out of faith
