FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

Welcome back everyone and to all the new students and families in 2023.

Chaplaincy started off the New Year by blessing our Student Executive and naming the theme of this year’s Chapel Services as the “Fruits of the Spirit”.

Our 2023 Wellbeing Priorities include areas of resilience, engagement and flow and this is supported in our Chapel programs this year by increasing students’ engagement with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

It is envisaged that engaging with these character traits will assist students to have more life satisfaction which is the goal and highest priority of our 2023 Wellbeing Program.

To start off the process, the Year 6s had their first Penquite Chapel and looked at how they could increase their engagement with one strategy of what they would do, and three tactics of how they would do it, to experience more love in their life.

This is a really important reflection time as we grapple with the one word ‘love’ that could mean, we love what we eat, we love where we go, we love our parents, families and siblings and so on it goes.  All different meanings for the one English word, Love.  In ancient Greek and Hebrew, there were four to seven words for love, and depending upon what word for love they were using, you immediately knew the context and feeling of what they were saying.   So helping the students identify what they mean for their particular contexts helps them relate to the meaning and feeling they value for love and want to experience on a daily basis.

We will now continue on with all year levels from Year 2 to Year 12 having their own experiences of what it means for them to love more and then work their way through the nine Spiritual aspects.

All in all, this year looks to be an exciting one for engagement and belonging as we return to accompanying students on their camps, a new and exciting Junior School program, a return of the Middle School Coffee and Chats in Terms Two and Three, and a Social Justice initiative for the Elders Council of Tasmania Aboriginal Corporation.

We will keep you updated on all these facets of our 2023 Chaplaincy CONNECT program and look forward to the growth and openness of our students’ minds as they engage with their own spirituality with the ultimate goal of achieving life satisfaction, no matter what age or year level they are in.

Rev Grace
College Chaplain