It is hard to believe that this is our final editorial for CamNews for 2024. We have been enjoying our end-of-year church services and graduation events, and we look forward to our Carols event tonight.
As the year comes to a close, I would like to express my gratitude to our School Council, chaired by Dr Nikita Weickhardt, along with the members of our Council Sub-committees. Thank you for your support and efforts in ensuring that we provide the best learning opportunities and environment for our students.
I also want to extend my appreciation to our Parents and Friends Association, including the Year Level Representatives, for their ongoing support.
A heartfelt thank you goes to our teachers and professional services staff, who work with dedication and care each day. We are grateful for your commitment to building a highly regarded, innovative, and authentic education for our students.
I will be taking long service leave at the beginning of next year to enjoy a very special family wedding and will return for Week 3 of Term 1. Mrs McClure looks forward to welcoming you back on the first day of Term 1.
As we conclude, I would like to share a Christmas message from our School Chaplain, Reverend Helen Creed. I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a joyful holiday break.
With best wishes,
Debbie Dunwoody
Principal
Christmas is for adults too!
According to the shops that line Burke Road, and all the supermarkets, Christmas has begun! It seems that the first day of November is the turning point: shop windows and supermarket shelves are suddenly packed with elves and wreaths, Santas and trees. If you look carefully you might even find some nativity scenes.
It’s important to us at Camberwell Girls that we share the Christmas story with our students. Our Early Learning children gather in the School Chapel, while our Junior & Middle School students gather at St Mark’s Church to sing and pray together. And this evening, there is an opportunity for all members of our community to gather as well, at Christmas at Camberwell.
Preparing our Christmas Services is one of the great joys of my job. My goal is to involve as many students as possible in leading these times of worship, and one of the fun parts is playing dress-ups. In the past few weeks, I have made tinsel halos for the Year 2s, fitted out some very enthusiastic Year 9 shepherds, and wrapped the baby Jesus in some ‘swaddling cloths’ before laying him in a manger. I am so blessed to be able to share these stories with children.
But I would not want this proper focus on our children to make us think that the story of Jesus’ birth is in some way childish. Christmas is emphatically for adults too! In the Christmas story, we can find gutsy answers to the existential questions of life: Are we loved? Do we matter? How can we live with all that is against life and human flourishing? Who or what can we depend on? Is God trustworthy?
The Christmas story takes us back to a bleak middle-eastern night, but, more importantly, it gives us eyes to see the present in a new way. If it is true that Jesus is “true God from true God”, “light from light” (these words come from an early church Creed); and if this light “enlightens everyone who comes into the world” (John 1:9), then we have a stunning starting point for understanding life as a whole, and the significance of every particular life. My life, your life, our lives together . . . have been touched by nothing less than the light of the all-holy, all-loving, eternal God. Perhaps another way of saying this would be that we have been kissed by the divine light.* That means everyone: babies, children, teens & grown-ups; the poor, the rich; the conventional, the convention-breakers; those who can spell and those who can’t; the high-flyers and the low-liers. And that kiss makes it possible for us to face the future with hope, knowing that God’s light is wholly committed to the life of humankind.
May I take this opportunity to wish you some moments of quiet and peace during this Advent season. And may Christmas be a time of light, healing and joy. My prayers are especially with those members of our school community who will be missing loved ones this Christmas.
With best wishes,
Reverend Helen Creed
School Chaplain
*I owe this image to a Jewish legend about Moses: that when Moses died he was kissed by God. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-divine-kiss/
