Head of School’s Comment

John Colet School, Belrose, Sydney

As we continue to explore the Value of Courage this term, we bring our focus to finding the courage to finish the task we are doing and finish it well. In all subjects we look for the children to persist in ensuring that they go the extra mile or in many cases just that last inch to produce their highest quality and best work. We will be encouraging their persistence at school, and we encourage you to look for examples at home where they have perhaps completed a task to the best of their ability. A good opportunity for them to tidy their rooms, clean their shoes or perhaps just help out around the house!

The job is almost finished, the goal almost attained, everything possible seems to have been achieved, every difficulty overcome — and yet the quality is just not there. The work needs more finish, perhaps further research. In that moment of weariness and self-satisfaction, the temptation is greatest to give up, not to strive for the peak of quality. That’s the realm of the last inch.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn – The First Circle

Julian Wilcock
Headmaster