Principal's Blog
Last week I set a list of 'must do' tasks by the weekend. Sitting down a breakfast on Saturday I reviewed my resolutions fully expecting another year of failure. But to my surprise though I hadn't achieved everything on the list, I'd made a good fist of it.
The muffins I'd made were really good, the pasta tuna bake was delicious, and I'd made great progress with the photo journals of our holidays last year. I'd even cleared most of the mess on the patio, left after workmen had finished replacing a broken drain in the summer. Ok, I hadn't been to the gym everyday, but a rotten cold was a good excuse.
So I'd made a good start and I'm not ready to give up yet. By next weekend I aim to complete the photo journals. I've been meaning to complete this task forever. It feels good to be almost there. Now for the tax return.
By mid December the new extension at John Ferneley, the Enrichment Centre, will be completed. Walking around the building this week I can't help but feel excited and very fortunate. During a period of financial retrenchment nationally the college has been extremely fortunate. To have new state of the art buildings places us in a fantastic position as we face the future.
Staff will experience the building for the first time on the 22nd of December when they will complete an orientation programme whilst students will be using the building for the first time after Christmas. Parents will have a first opportunity to experience the centre in February when they attend our production of the musical 'Grease' in the beautiful new theatre.
Our builders will be demolishing the old building during January and February and should be off the college campus by summer, three and a half years after work commenced.
Exciting times.
One hundred years ago the world was facing a bright future. In 1911 Europe was more prosperous than it had ever been, it had experienced a hundred years of peace and we were on the cusp of a scientific and technological revolution which promised remarkable possibilities. Granted there were worries, German militarism, competition over colonies, a military armaments race, and labour unrest, a consequence of unequal prosperity and power. But most people had a positive view of the future. Why would the European powers want to go to war again? War would threaten prosperity. It was unthinkable.
Yet within three years we were pitched into a war the like of which nobody had imagined in 1911. The First World War was a disaster; bloody, catastrophic a slaughter house. On the first morning alone of the Battle of the Somme the British army lost 20,000 men. During the battle of Verdun the French and German armies each lost half a million men. Words fail to describe the the waste of both men and resources.
By the 11th of November 1918 the war came to an end, Germany on its knees and about to face humiliation, Britain and France exhausted and bent on revenge. What chance peace? Well we now know the answer, the Second World War twenty years later. Do we ever learn?
It's now 2011 and Europe has experienced peace for over 60 years.The continent has never been more prosperous and despite 'local difficulties' the world economy is predicted to expand during the 21st Century bringing prosperity to millions upon millions of people world wide. Granted there are issues surrounding wealth distribution, but a Third World War, it's unthinkable!
Perhaps that's why remembrance day is so important.
We're in a right mess. The news is full of another possible banking collapse and an even greater fall in our standard of living. The politicians and pundits are not crying wolf. If the Euro goes pear shaped then in the famous words of that dour Scotsman, Private Frazer, in the comedy 'Dad's Army', "we're all doomed".
So what's to be done? Well looking after number one won't help. The 'beggar thy neighbour' approach is the quickest way to the bottom. The problem is that we are so dependent on each other, what we do affects everyone else. If Greece goes bust we all go bust!
One things for certain, we are not going to get out of this mess without helping each other. Somehow that's going to mean tempering our natural competitive nature with our natural instinct to cooperate. And that's going to require real leadership. Not just political and business leadership but each of us taking responsibility for our own actions.
So what's the chance of us pulling it off? Can we avert disaster? Well only time will tell. In the meantime we need to polish up on our team working skills and above all take note of the good advice of that other star of Dad's Army, Corporal Jones, "don't panic Captain Mainwaring".
I've got a new Apple Mac and I can't stop talking about it. Ok, I can hear you - the triumph of image over substance - but I don't care. My Apple is just wonderful. It makes me feel trendy and that's no mean feat at my age. In addition, it's an intuitive creature, it seems to sense my limitations and support my striving for IT competence.
It's also turned me into a photographic nerd. Thanks to iPhoto I can now actually organise my digital images, manipulate them with ease and present them beautifully in book, slideshow or calendar form. It's all so easy and the end result is brilliant. A weekend with Adobe Elements a year ago nearly ended my photographic career!
So how can something as superficial as an Apple Mac be so stimulating? It's only stuff and as we are constantly told by the great and the good, stuff doesn't satisfy man's deepest needs. Well I'm sure they are correct, but feeling good, enjoying the moment, living the dream, you can't beat it. What's wrong with fun?
Perhaps these should not the thoughts of a sober college Principal at the beginning of September. "Fun boy, what's that! Noses to the grindstone, that's what delivers the results". But I can't help but think that fun is what makes you get up in the morning and keeps you going all day. Perhaps I've still got one foot in the summer holidays or I'm experiencing a mid life crisis but I'm determined to have fun this year and my Apple Mac will keep me going.