The End of Formal Schooling for Year 12

As Term 3 comes to a close, it doesn't just bring warmer weather and the start of the school holidays. It also brings an ending too. The end of formal schooling for our Year 12 students. And while I promise to avoid using terms like 'seasons' and 'journey', the completion of high school is incredibly significant and something worth celebrating.

It's also an opportunity to look back on what you've achieved and what you leave behind; to think about your legacy.

So to our Year 12 Class of 2019, we celebrate you. Now, at the completion of your schooling. Before you sit those final HSC exams. We celebrate the culmination of all that you have done throughout your years at school. Because the legacy you leave behind here at St Philip's Christian College Cessnock is fare more than your final moments on campus or the ATAR score you'll achieve.

Your legacy exists in all the ways you have endeavoured to be the best versions of yourselves. It's in the courage, resilience and perseverance you've developed throughout the last 13 years at school. And it continues on in the things you've done to inspire others to achieve their best.

Maybe that inspiration was through an artwork you created, a team you led or how you connected with the younger students at our College. Maybe it was the people you helped on a service trip, or the way in which you challenged yourself to try something new. Perhaps it's how you overcame a major setback or adversity and refused to give up when things got tough. Or the way you chose kindness, the way you chose to stand up for what was right even when it was unpopular to do so.

These tangible skills are not measured by your final academic results, but they are the very things that completing your HSC represents. They are the things that will be remembered. They are a legacy worth celebrating.

So as we say farewell, we celebrate you, Year 12 Class of 2019. Thank you for your many and varied contributions to St Philip's Christian College Cessnock, and for inspiring us to be the best versions of ourselves. We wish you well in your final exams and challenge you to finish well.

As the Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 12, 'Let us run with perseverance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus'.

We will watch with pride and anticipation as you continue to build on this legacy in your next exciting chapter. (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Brendon Guest

Head of Senior School