From the Principal’s Desk

It turns out that what students believe about their intelligence has a big impact not only on what they are able to achieve but on their motivation as well. Many students believe that intelligence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount and that’s it – some are smart, some are dumb! This belief leads students to adopt a “fixed mindset” which, in turn, limits their achievement. An unwritten and unspoken “rule” associated with this mindset is: “Look smart at all costs”. Understandably, this rule gets in the way of learning. Students displaying fixed mindsets also often think that mistakes or setbacks mean they lack ability. This is why many talented students lack confidence in themselves. Add to this the observation that if they make a mistake, they don’t want to correct them – and we have a poor recipe for learning! Fixed mindset students believe (but would never say) that you don’t need to work hard – and that if you have put in lots of effort, it is a sign of limited intelligence. Carol Dweck notes, “This idea that high effort equals low ability is one of the worst beliefs a student can have. It is virtually impossible to do anything worthwhile without sustained effort.” This is precisely why so many “gifted” students simply stop working when school becomes more difficult, and why many struggling students won’t try! It is also why so many students (including adults) are happy to say they “can’t do Maths” and then give up. The fixed mindset limits their ability to succeed. On the other hand, students with a “growth mindset” believe that no matter how smart they are, abilities can be developed if they try hard and persevere. It is these who are the most motivated and resilient students, not those who think they have a lot of innate intelligence. And these will end up being more successful in school and life as well. They are prepared to take on challenges, to stretch themselves, to learn. Rather than thinking that effort undermines ability, they believe that the harder you work at something, the better you get. And if they make mistakes, they use them to learn to things differently and better next time. This in turn generates motivation.

The interesting thing is that mindset can be changed. We just have to realise that learning makes the brain grow stronger and smarter – and this only happens with effort and perseverance. With this mindset, any student can master anything.

Bro Andrew Johns

BIRDS IN THE BIBLE—

EAGLE:

“Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.”

Psalm 103:5

IN THIS EDITION Primary Swimming Program

Year 8 and 9 Camps

Secondary Swimming Carnival

UP & COMING EVENTS until next newsletter God willing:

WEEK 6

Fri 6 March

Student-free day

WEEK 7

Mon 9 March

Public Holiday

Fri 13 March

Primary Assembly Year 3 12.30 pm

Term 1 No 3 | 3 March 2015

SAVE THE DATE!

FATHERS’ BREAKFAST

8.30 am

Friday 20 March (God willing)

STUDENT-FREE DAY

This coming Friday (6th March) is the first Staff Development Day for this year, so there will be no school that day. Among other things, on that day teachers will be focusing on tools and techniques to diagnose and fix common misunderstandings in Maths (Primary) and improving the quality and reliability of assessment (Secondary).

Year 11 and 12 students who are enrolled in VET courses or have Marden Senior College lessons on that day are still expected to attend those lessons.

FATHERS’ BREAKFAST

All fathers with a child in Primary have been invited to a breakfast and a classroom visit on Friday 20 March, God willing. Breakfast will be served on the lawns outside the Sports Centre

GENERAL NEWS

from 8:30 - 9:15am and then there will be the opportunity for dads to visit their children’s classrooms in the Primary School. The morning will conclude no later than 10:00am, but anyone is free to leave earlier if they need to.

We would love to see you at breakfast and it will give you the opportunity to see your children at school and listen to their readers or join in a class activity. Please reply via email to: reception@heritage.sa.edu.au or phone 8266

5122 by Friday 6 March for catering purposes.

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PARENT OPINION SURVEY

Late last year, we ran a short survey to gauge parent opinion on a number of issues related to the College. Many thanks to the 50% of parents who took the time to respond. As you will notice from the summary bar graph below, there was very high satisfaction levels in most areas—which is great to see. However, we are interested in improving where there is room for improvement. The problem is that it was a general survey with no opportunity for longer responses—so we are now asking you to help us drill down in a few areas.

If you disagreed with any of the statements, we would really appreciate you telling us why. To be helpful, you will need to be specific and identify yourself! We can’t improve when we don’t know exactly what bothers you—nor can we check if things have been fixed if we don’t know who you are! Please be assured we will treat your concerns sensitively. Just send a confidential email to principal@heritage.sa.edu.au or respond via the link in an email to be sent soon.

If you prefer to chat about any of these areas, please ring Jill and ask to speak to Andrew by phone or in person. We look forward to your constructive suggestions.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Teachers expect my child to do his or her best

Teachers provide my child with useful feedback about his school work

Teachers treat students fairly

Heritage College is well maintained

My child feels safe at school

I can talk to my child's teachers about my concerns

Student behaviour is well managed at Heritage College

My child likes being at Heritage College

Heritage College looks for ways to improve

Heritage College takes parents' opinions seriously

Teachers motivate my child to learn

My child is making good progress at school

My child's learning needs are being met at Heritage

The College works with me to support my child's learning

HC provides an environment in which my child can grow spiritually

Parent Opinion Response Statements % of parents choosing AGREE or STRONGLY AGREE

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GENERAL NEWS TISSUES

We would appreciate families providing one box of tissues per student for use in classrooms for this term please.

SPORTS DAY

This year’s Sports Day is about a month away – scheduled for Wednesday 1st April (God willing) at St Albans Reserve, Chester Avenue, Clearview. Please make a note of the date so that you don’t miss this exciting event! See this flyer for more details and how you can help on the day.

All students will be expected to wear T-shirts in their house colours. For most students, these were provided last year. Students who are new to the school this year have been given details of how to order. Coloured T-shirts are available in the Uniform Shop for a cost of $5—open Monday 3.00—3.30 and Friday 8.30—9.00 am.

LIBRARY NEWS

PRINCIPAL’S AWARDS

At the Primary assembly each Friday, some students are presented with a Principal’s Award in acknowledgement of their excellent work, effort or good character during the week.

Congratulations to the following students who have received awards:

Reception

Orlando Galbraith for good manners and behaviour in class

Reed Gibbs for good ball control skills in Oscar lessons

Charlotte Hall for participating well in music lesson by keeping the beat

Saffron Hammond for progressing well in guided reading lessons

Adele Jolly for a good effort in guided reading lessons

Ivy Parry for being a consistent diligent worker

Aaron Risley for working quietly at his desk

Isaac Schiavone for always being thankful and using good manners

Rec/Year 1 JW

Isabelle Roncal for working well in Guided Reading

Kiara Jolly for working diligently in class and for helping others

Max Thompson for putting effort into learning his letter sounds

Ava Johnson for being kind and thoughtful towards others

Year 1

Max Cowie for very good thinking skills

Rachel Evans for being a positive influence in the class

Evelyn Hornhardt for thoughtfulness in anticipating class needs

Isla Johns for excellent listening skills and always being where she needs to be

Judah Newall for good thinking skills in Maths, an excellent work ethic and helpfulness in class

Year 2

Lily Badams for saying kind things to other people

Jemima Horwood for a lovely brainstorm on “Gifts from God”

Ethan Jeffress for neat handwriting this week

Philippa Law for working hard even when she felt tired

nice. He is my brother. Luke Seaman: I played with the connecting

blocks with Ari Steele. We built armoured cars and goggles.

Owen Arnold: I played with Judah Martin and was drawing a picture.

Zara Case: I did colouring in. I got a picture of a birthday cake from Isabella Luke.

Max Cowie: I did a puzzle with Nathan Gibson. It was a little bit of fun.

Kiara Jolly: I coloured in a picture and read a book with a big kid.

Arianah Stone: I did a picture of a dolphin trying to catch a fish with Ellanie Stone. At home I’m going to make some seaweed to make a coral reef.

YEAR 5 NEWS

Year 5 Writing

In Year 5 this term we have been learning to write effective recounts with Aunty Naomi Tretola. Recounts have: a title, an orientation (when did we go, where did we go, who did we go with and why did we go), a sequence of events (what happened in order), and a personal comment to finish with (how did this event make us feel). Here are two examples:

Year 3

Ruby Luke for consistently neat and accurate bookwork

Joel Pillion for consistently good classroom behaviour

Simonas Wigzell for working hard to collect information for his project on Tasmanian Devils

Year 5

Tayla Cridland for good concentration and work practice in the classroom

Leah Hallows and Rebekah Pullman for achieving 100% in the Monday Spelling Pre-Test for Week 4

R/1—JW

The Reception/Year 1 class had a fantastic buddy class session with the Year 8s. We spent the time getting to know each other by doing a variety of activities including puzzles, reading stories, drawing and building with connecting blocks. Eddie Farren: I did drawings with Jesse

McGeorge. We drew the “ Cat in the Hat” by a river.

Ava Johnson: I did puzzles with Micah Hammond and I know one of the big girl’s names. It was Ruby Parcell.

Hunter Badams: I did drawing and Jaxon Samwell helped me to learn how to draw ‘fishies’.

Levi Finley: I did the big puzzle with the big pieces with I-don’t-know-his-name.

Chloe Atkins: I did drawings and read a story and then it was time to go but we didn’t finish the story.

Sarayah Broadwood: I played with Sam. I did puzzles. I played with him and he’s so

PRIMARY

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Brianna Gore

YEAR 7—SCIENCE

Our Year 7s have been making models of Hero’s Steam Engine, utilising their fine motor skills to blow and shape glass. In the process they learn about differential pressures and expansion of air due to heat when filling the engines and then refilling once used. They are a lot of fun to make and play with afterwards.

Our Year 7 students are also studying engineering design and were required to build a tower from plastic straws. Some were more successful than others of course and in the process they learnt that certain shapes and designs were either better, stronger or more reliable than others.

PRIMARY SWIMMING VOLUNTEERS

Thank you to all those who helped as volunteers, assisting teachers and students during Primary Swimming Week - your time and effort was much appreciated! Thank you also to our bus drivers for transporting students safely and on time for their lessons.

Year 5 Geography

In Geography this term we have been learning about the continent of North America and we would like to share with you some facts. North America is made up of 10 countries. Three of the countries are very large and are in the north. The other seven are very small and are in the south. The three large countries are: Canada, the United States of America or USA and Mexico. The seven small countries in the south are: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. You will notice that Greenland at the top is not part of this continent – it is owned by Denmark. We learnt that the United States has a separate part to it up in the top left-hand corner – the yellow section on

its own. In fact there are two states of America that are not part of the middle states. They are Alaska which is that yellow section on its own and Hawaii out in the ocean. We have also

attempted to name all the 50 states of America and we will continue to learn more about North America in the next few weeks.

Ethan Broadwood & Nathanael Smith

PRIMARY

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Liam Samwell

PRIMARY SWIMMING

PAGE 6

Evelyn Hornhardt

Oliver Scott

Elinor Todd

Elliot Peronace

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HEBREW NEWS

Purim ( in Hebrew) is a joyous holiday that פוריםcommemorates the rescue of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire (Iran of today) where a plot had been formed to destroy them. The name of this festival comes from the Persian word ‘pur’ meaning ‘lot’ (as in ‘lottery’). It recalls that Haman (one of the king’s top advisors) cast lots to determine the day on which he would destroy all the Jews. However, his plan failed.

The King of Persia, Achashverosh (Ahasuerus) married a beautiful Jewish woman named Esther. Esther told the King about Haman’s plan and asked him to spare the Jewish people lives. The King was also reminded that

once Mordechai (Esther’s uncle) saved his life. So King Achashverosh spared the Jewish people lives, nominated Mordechai as his top advisor and ordered to punish Haman. The story of Purim is written in the Book of Esther (Megillat Ester מגילת אסתרin Hebrew) and is celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (around March). Purim is celebrated by:

Reading the scroll of Esther

Eating a festival meal

Exchanging food parcels (Mishloach Manot )משלוח מנות

Donating charity to the poor (Matanot l’evyonim )מתנות לאביונים

Dressing up in costumes, singing, dancing and eating Purim food (Oznei Haman – ‘Haman’s Ears’)

A big thank you to the Year 11 and 12 volunteers who helped make Purim masks and to my husband, who did nearly all the rest! Revital Aharon

GEMATRIA

Gematria is the assignation of numeric values to Hebrew letters. Using the table shown, the Year 4 and 5 students found the numeric values of

their names (final letters were referred as regular ones). Some students chose to use their first name, while others only their nickname. Here are some examples:

OZNEI HAMAN

‘Haman’s Ears’ Recipe

Ingredients:

300gm caster sugar

4 eggs

1 cup canola oil

750gm plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla essence

Jam or other fillings such as poppy seeds, chocolate spread or dates)

Method: Beat eggs until thick. Then beat in sugar, oil and vanilla essence. Fold in flour and baking powder until it becomes workable dough (it will be a bit soft still, but once you work with it on a floured surface it becomes a firmer dough). Flour your surface and roll out in batches. Use a drinking glass to cut out rounds.

Put a teaspoon of jam or other filling in the centre of each round, then pinch up so that there are 3 corners and the filling is concealed. Place on a greased tray (or baking paper), brush with beaten egg and bake till just brown in a 180-degree oven (180 degrees Celsius = 350 degrees Fahrenheit).

Cool and serve. Makes about 50. Enjoy!

PRIMARY HEBREW

Carmel Evans

Brianna Gore

Year 8 students had a wonderful time at Adare camp site, Victor Harbor last week. They experienced many new sights, sounds, tastes and adventures all giving them a chance to socialise, encourage, help and get along with one another without the normal help of mum and dad to assist. It also gave them an opportunity to learn about the Murray River basin, spending the last day at the Goolwa Barrage complex looking at the effect it has on wildlife and the environment. Many thanks to the parents who helped out with their expertise and patience: Aunties Leanne Clark, Keren Steele and Cheryl Grainger, along with Uncles John Mansfield and James Eakins. They all loved the companionship, food, games evening activities and Greenhill in particular but were not surprisingly a little less enthusiastic about the 6.30 am start to the day!

David Knight & Elisa Wiafe

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YEAR 8 CAMP

A fun Thursday night at school was enjoyed before an early rise and drive to Clare for a day of Bike riding on the Riesling Trail. A group of keen Year 9 girls managed to easily complete the 14 km return trip to Seven Hills. They enjoyed a lovely lunch at our destination before returning to our accommodation in the Home Ec Centre.

This year they broke new ground by participating in a challenging Rock Climbing session at Morialta Conservation Park on the Saturday. A lovely but hot day meant an early 7,30 am start in order to finish before the midday sun. Ropes. Harnesses. Helmets. Safety talks …..ready for action! Lives held in the palm of the hand (and a couple of pretty serious looking belay devices). “Back- up belayer?” “ I’ve got you! ” “On belay. Climb when ready!” “Climbing!” the gulped reply. Much advice from the ground, shaking legs, forearms pumping, nerves alive, adrenalin kicking in. “I must reach the carabineer!!” “Ok that’s me done, let me down.’’ “Safe!” “ You are off belay

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YEAR 9 GIRLS CAMP …...right, whose next!” Words of encouragement, acceptance of defeat, joy in victory….and it’s only 10:00am! Talk, laugh, evoke, exclaim! Memories made.

Chris Ryan & Michelle Wild

On the Monday morning, the girls were given a large mug to decorate with drawings and words in different colours and then it was baked in the oven! While the mug was ‘cooking’, the girls went to the Chocolate School in North Adelaide and made truffles, experimenting with a variety of flavours and dark, white or milk chocolate. The girls had a lot of fun but they didn’t want to eat any more chocolate after the 2 hour session! Thank you to Andrea Gore for helping with the day’s activities. Priscilla Bailey

The Year 9 Boys camp to Glenelg River was another great success this year. We were blessed with warm weather, which was fantastic for swimming in the river. The boys did an excellent job of paddling on the river, and worked very well together as a group around the campsite.

Each year we use Proverbs 1-9 as our spiritual focus for the camp and the boys prepare meditations for these chapters as we read through them together. Some excellent thoughts and discussion came from these readings and what the boys prepared. A big thank you to Ken Pitcher, Simon McGeorge, and Tim Bailey for all their enthusiastic help this year.

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YEAR 9 BOYS CAMP

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SECONDARY Year 10 Science students are examining the potency effects of particular cells. These are cells that can take on the functions of any other cells. Students here are taking cuttings of geranium and daisy plants, producing cloned copies of the original plants. This is what we find in stem cells with animals so they are also learning that medical applications are a possibility leading into research of clones, stem cell and genetic modification.

CHILD STUDIES

Are you my Mummy?

Eggs, generally a tasty food we scramble, fry, or use in cakes and yummy treats. However, did you know that they also make the cutest and most demanding babies? The Year 10 girls are currently finding out exactly what it means to be a responsible parent. With their precious little Egg

Babies in hand (or plastic container for protection, trust me they need it!) they are learning the intricacies of parenting. As they embark on their journey (even if it is all in

the imagination) of sleep deprivation, giving baby countless hours of attention, organising their busy school and social calendars around their new addition and coercing family and friends to babysit (my apologies for this). It enables the girls to gain an entertaining and eventful insight into the intricate and complex nature of babies and toddlers and even though I would like to say that no eggs were harmed in the making of the egg babies, there were a couple of casualties that were recycled for other purposes.

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SECONDARY YEAR 12, 2014

Where are they now?

Chloe Bailye: University - Heath Sciences

Jono Beacham: Year 13 at Heritage

Jacob Blacket: University—Mechanical Engineering

Jonny Bowden: University—Health Management

Jono Cadieux: Full time work and University - Commerce

Tiffany Creek: Year 13 at Marden Senior College

Cassie Dunn: University—Health Sciences

Ben Eitel: TAFE—Photography

Esther Ginn: Full time work

Maddy Hanns: University—Nursing

Zac Hean: University—Teaching

Elliot Hennig: Looking for work

Josh Kempster: University—Mathematics

Nat King—Full time work

Oliver Luke: University—Urban and Regional Planning

Brayden Luke: University - Marine Biology

Rose-Mary Mansfield: Deferred university—full time work

Caleb Munaro—Full time work

Louis Parcell: TAFE—Photography

Miriam Pitcher: Full time work

Jo Pitcher: Full time work

Elliot Pitcher: Apprenticeship—SA Power Networks

Jono Pitt: Looking for an apprenticeship

Jasmine Singh: Online course—Allied Health Assistance

Abi Smith: Full time work

Micah Steele: University—Commerce

Jamin Tretola: University—Physiotherapy

Angus Weller: University—Teaching / Science

Josh Wigzell: University—Teaching

Hannah Wigzell: TAFE—Children’s Education

YEAR 12 RESEARCH PROJECT

Recently the Year 12 Research Project class visited the State Library in order to gain some experience in researching using the vast databases that it holds. Given the wide array of topics that the students are studying it is an excellent resource for the entire class. Students this year are studying the following topics:

Isaac Armonis—To what extent does eating fruit before / after exercising affect people¹s energy levels?

Lauren Barnes—What impact does social media have on a student’s sleep and study habits?

Beks Clark—To what extent does physiotherapy benefit sports injury?

Luke Cadieux—How did conscription to the military during the Vietnam War affect the Christadelphian community, particularly their stance on conscientious objection?

Fulori Digilacere—To what extent does regular exercise improve children¹s ability to learn?

Amber Dodson—What techniques most benefit the numeracy learning of autistic Primary students?

Peter Hallows—How does a high fat diet affect your chances of becoming a centenarian?

Emily Hughes—What is the process behind designing an affordable and authentic-looking medieval gown and what cultures surround that fashion?

Chloe Hyndman—To what extent does the ketogenic diet help control epilepsy seizures?

Tori Johns—To what extent was the Z-force regiment mentally affected by their duties in Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau during WW2?

Sam King—How could Heritage College improve its energy efficiency—what could it use to cut down the costs and why?

Andrea Lygizos—To what extent is Lupus affected by diet?

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SECONDARY

YEAR 12 B&E EXCURSION

Its not every day you get to visit a Brussel sprout farm and last week the Yr 11 and 12 Business and Enterprise class had just that opportunity! When we turned up, we expected sprouts, sprouts, and more sprouts, but Uncle Leigh had many exciting surprises waiting for us; the highlight definitely being the open tray truck ride around the farm and seeing the sprout sorting machines. We interviewed Uncle Leigh about how the business runs and remains efficient. One fact we were all amazed by is that when they started the business they produced around 60,000 sprouts a year—and now it’s 1.6 million! Wow! Thank you very much to Uncle Leigh Samwell and we hope he keeps cool in his snow room during the summer. We loved the samples we got to bring home!

Kristen Manser—To what extent have vaccines lowered the incidence of infectious diseases in children in society?

Leah McGeorge—Photography - elements of landscape and portraits

Luke Nicholls—How can an athlete optimise their sleeping habits to lead to an enhancement in both mental and physical performance?

Keturah O¹Connor—Nutrition - the effects of junk food and what it does to the human body

Tim Penn—To what extent does having hobbies impact on mental health?

Elodie Richards—To what extent has social networking affected females with eating disorders?

Judah Roper—How do quad-copters work and how do you make one?

Alex Sanderson—Is there a significant connection between healthy eating and mental health?

Katie Stedman—To what extent are a teenager’s cognitive performance, physical co-ordination and energy levels affected by sleep deprivation and what techniques can be used to improve sleep quality?

Kyria Williams—To what extent does the different tones and rhythm of various music genres affect the behaviour of animals?

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SECONDARY SWIMMING CARNIVAL 50 swimming events kept all Secondary teachers and students entertained and busy during this year’s Swimming Carnival. Payneham pool was a lovely setting for all participants and supporters on the day. Junior Secondary students had the opportunity of spending PE lessons at the pool for a number of practice sessions beforehand and Senior Secondary students had a time trial session at UniSA Magill pool earlier in the year. Thank you to the parents for their support at this event.

Congratulations to the winning team—Ephraim! Results: Ephraim 235

Reuben 198

Dan 197

Judah 140

50m Boys Open Freestyle

12-14 yo Jonah Duperouzel (30.66 sec)

15-17 yo Luke Nicholls (33.08 sec)

50m Girls Open Freestyle

12-14 yo Laura Clark (44.00 sec)

15-17 yo Rebekah Clark (38.12 sec)

100m Boys Open Freestyle

Jonah Duperouzel (75.88 sec)

Caleb Edgecombe

Luke Nicholls

Luke Atkins

100m Girls Open Freestyle

Rebekah Clark (93.39 sec)

Cora Edgecombe

Sarah Horwood

Lucy Eakins

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“How can you learn anything if you won't take risks?” wrote Lois Lowry. Taking risks is part of life and an essential part of learning. Taking a risk is doing something when the outcome is not certain. Growing up is all about taking risks, even from our earliest childhood. If babies didn’t take risks, no one would ever learn to walk – how many of us walked immediately without falling, tripping over things or banging into objects?

Learning always involves a degree of risk. To learn something new we have to challenge ourselves to do something we haven’t done before and risk failing a few times while we learn. I still remember how patient (or was that frustrated?!) my dad was as he helped me ride my bike on the lawn out the front of our house on the fruit block. At first I had training wheels, later he would hold the back of the seat to help my balance and then at last he’d let go with a gentle push. I would often tumble off and he’d encourage me to get back on and try again. In the end, I learned to ride a bike.

Sometimes, we’re afraid that taking a risk in learning is just too great, and that the pay-off is not worth it. However, Peter F. Drucker once said, “People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” The fact is that the older people get, there is really only one regret they have: not being courageous enough to have taken risks earlier in life. Often we know what it is we want to do, but we still don’t do it. Why? Because we are innately risk averse and afraid of putting our vulnerability on the line. Playing safe, while not particularly fulfilling, can seem like an easier, softer, less scary, option. Advances in brain imaging technology can now verify that we are wired to be risk averse (to keep us safe from doing something stupid!). In other words, we find it much easier to settle with the status quo and keep our heads down rather than make a change, take a chance, or speak up and engage in, what Margie Warrell calls, a “courageous conversation.”

What gets in the way of us taking a risk with our learning? We often over-estimate the probability of something going wrong. We may exaggerate the consequences of what might happen if it goes wrong. We underestimate our ability to handle the consequences of taking the risk. We discount or deny the cost of inaction and playing it safe. So how can we get past these blocks? Lao Tsu wrote, “You are capable of more than you think.” We can start by asking three questions:

1. What would I do if I were being more courageous?

2. How will inaction cost me one year from now if I do nothing?

3. How am I over-estimating the risk, under-estimating myself and holding myself back from taking risks that will help my learning?

Taking risks in learning is very beneficial. They reveal our strengths that we can build on and our weaknesses that we can improve on over time. They provide practice in dealing with negative feelings and building resiliency to cope with failure. They help us practice new skills and increase our capacity to take on new things. They help develop problem solving skills and help us learn by experiencing the consequences of misjudging a risk. They are part of becoming a healthy and capable adult. Jorge Bucay wrote, “In order to fly you have to create space in the open air so that your wings can really spread out. It’s like a parachute. They only work from a high altitude. To fly you have to begin taking risks. If you don’t want to, maybe the best thing is just to give up, and keep walking forever.”

The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us about risk taking too: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it ?... So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:28,33). Being a learner (disciple) at the feet of the Master involves taking risks. However, taking risks for Christ leads to great reward: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matt.16:25). This is what it means to have faith, believing that what seems impossible to us, God can do for us in His own Son. In the end, it isn’t really a risk at all!

“Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in Yahweh.” Psalm 31:24

COUNSELLING CORNER