Annually, on 24 January, the United Nations observes the International Day of Education. The chosen theme for 2024, ‘Learning for Lasting Peace’, recognises that education plays a transformative role. It equips learners with essential knowledge, values, attitudes, skills and behaviours, empowering them to serve as catalysts for peace in their communities.
The United Nations aptly contends that education lays the foundation for more sustainable, just and peaceful societies. In a world where our young people confront escalating challenges such as climate change, democratic erosion, persistent inequalities, growing discrimination, hate speech, violence and global conflicts, their school education emerges as a crucial and potent tool. It not only prepares them to address these challenges but also empowers them to contribute to the prevention of such issues in the future.
During our staff conference days prior to the students’ return in January, I shared with the Senior School staff how grateful we can be that at Carey, we have a clarity of purpose and vision that shapes our work with our students and supports the United Nations’ aspirations for young people across the world. Our shared purpose, that ‘together, we inspire, nurture and develop students who are equipped for life and ready to create positive change’, requires us all to have clear and high expectations of our students, drives our Senior School improvement agenda and ensures that we are continuously reviewing and reimagining our programs and experiences to ensure that our purpose can be realised for our Senior School students as they step into their future.
I also shared with the staff that, as we have begun a new century and are in a time when the challenges before our young people are both complex and vast, we can be confident in our shared understanding that, as a school, we value excellence and personal growth. We acknowledge that our students’ pursuit and achievement of excellence is both a personalised and individualised experience, worthy of our full support, acknowledgment and celebration.
In assembly this week, we initiated a dialogue about what it means to be truly excellent at something, and the broad range of ways in which humans can aspire to and achieve their own level of excellence. I encouraged the students to look beyond the generally accepted definition of excellence, and instead challenged them to consider ways in which they could aspire to excellence by caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible. Unpacking and celebrating excellence in all its forms will be the underlying theme of our assemblies and gatherings in the Senior School in 2024.
In this, the United Nations year of ‘Learning for Lasting Peace’, when the world needs our young people to prepare for their challenging future ahead, our staff look forward to working in partnership with our students and parents to support our Senior School students to strive for their very best in every aspect of their school life. We acknowledge that, as in the words of Winston Churchill, ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.’ May the year ahead be one in which our courage to pursue our best, drives us in all our endeavours.
Kellie Lyneham
Head of Senior School
