How Kincumber Primary School is promoting the virtues

Imagine going to a junior school end of year presentation night and see that the school is actively promoting “Values”. I was lucky enough to attend our children’s school presentation last night and the values; self reliance, organisation, resilience, getting along and confidence were prominently displayed on the main stage. What a great way of promoting some of the 52 Virtues!

Here is a photograph of our daughter Phoebe with the Award for Music. She got the award because of her enthusiasm towards being in the school choir, the violin ensemble and the dance troupe.

“It is with great pleasure that we present Phoebe Beckers with the Col Murray Music Award. Phoebe’s love of music has been evident throughout her seven years at Kincumber Public School.

 She has participated in numerous musical activities and is multi-talented. Phoebe sings, dances and plays the violin. She has been a committed and enthusiastic member of the school choir since year 3 and has attended all performances. Phoebe’s favourite dance styles are jazz and hip-hop and she has participated for the past two years in the school talen quest. This year her dance troup was placed 1st in their preliminary final for their performance in the quest and she also attended a Creative Arts Camp for dance.

 Phoebe’s love for playing the violin has extended to public performance of the instrument. She has played at many schools assemblies, the Gosford City Council Environmental Awards ceremony and a member of the violin troupe that performed impressively at the Sydney Opera House.

Congratulations Phoebe, you are an inspiration to others and a very worthy recipient of this award for 2008.”

With Phoebe is a display box with one of the schools values. Phoebe’s self-confidence allowed her to gain the award and we are vey proud of you Phoebe, congratulations on your award.

Clancy our 10 year old son, also got an award for being a member of the team that won the Futsal State Finals, great effort Clancy, a fantastic display of the virtue of determination.

Doug Beckers

A Story Of Persistence, Love And Violins

Last night I had the honour of watching my 10 year old daughter Phoebe play the violin on stage at The Sydney Opera House. As you can imagine I was so proud of her and so happy for her that she was able to achieve such a huge goal that she had set herself.

The story of Phoebe and her friends’ success is a beautiful example of learning and practicing the virtue of persistence. You see, this is the third year Phoebe has had the opportunity to perform with hundreds of other young violinists at The Opera House. The first time she played she was only 8 and had only been playing for a few months before she was given the opportunity to start preparing for the first concert.

As she got closer to that first performance 3 years ago, the doubt started to set in. She imagined herself on stage, forgetting the music and everyone noticing. What a wonderful opportunity to learn to set goals, visualise success and practice persistence. Phoebe and I set small goals that she would need to achieve before she would be ready to perform. She set goals such as “getting her bowing movement correct”, memorising one piece of music etc and put them on her calendar for specific dates. When she achieved each small goal she crossed it off the calendar and we celebrated with a “special dinner”, candlelight and kid’s food!

Phoebe also imagined herself on stage playing perfectly and looking happy. These steps helped her to be persistent and when that first concert came around she was excited and confident without a shred of self doubt. What a wonderful achievement for her.

Last night was Phoebe’s third appearance and the skill of persistence she learnt in that first year is now second nature to her. Playing on stage again she was confident, proud and excited to be with her friends.

But this is more than a story of persistence, it is also a story of the virtue of love. In the 2 hour concert there were nearly 1000 different young musicians taking part (700 recorder players is an amazing sight and sound). Each of those children could only have been there by applying persistence. There were nearly 3000 people in the audience and the atmosphere was buzzing. There was more energy in that huge concert hall than you would normally have in a concert where people had come to listen to beautiful music. On the way home, children exhausted and asleep in the back seat, I realised why. Every single person in that audience was there because they were a parent, grand-parent, sibling or friend of a child performing that night. Everyone in that room LOVED someone who was on stage. You can’t get a more positive energy in a room that that!

Cheers

Janet

Sipping from the saucer of love

I spent the weekend with my mum, Bev, who at 72 is one of my greatest inspirations. We were talking about the 52 Virtues and especially of love. She told me a great story which I’d like to share with you.

When she was a child her father had a routine with his morning cup of tea. My grandmother would fill his cup and then let it over flow so his saucer would also be filled with tea. His treat was to put the cup to the side and sip from the saucer. Only then would he drink from the cup, often pouring some into the saucer again so he could sip from the saucer again.

Bev has a lot of love in her life and attracts beautiful and caring people to her. Her theory is that if you love yourself and have an overwhelming love for all around you, then love will always flow towards you.

She says that her cup of love is over flowing, she has so much to give, and that she feels that she is sipping from the saucer. What a beautiful way to look at life. I hope that you and your children find your cup of love over flowing and that you too can sip from the saucer. If you have any stories about love or any of the other 52 Virtues, why not share them here?

Cheers

Janet

P.S.If you haven’t read The Family Virtues Guide yet, I recommend you get a copy as it has some wonderful ideas and inspiration on developing the virtues, including the virtue of love.