In the earlier years of the school about mid 1990s I produced my weekly Assembly talk. I thought I had done ok - it was something about a horse. I thought I had successfully made it colourful, but when I got home, I was met with “what was that all about at Assembly? Don’t do that one again.” Sure, your children are your harshest critics, and they encouraged me to reflect on their words. Yep colourful, but they were right - it was too complicated! Not to be used again.

Recently I found an old notebook and written in pencil was a talk I gave to new students well after the year of the horse story.

It ran like this:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I want you to look at your right hand. Having done that I want you to now look at your left hand.

Now I want you to close your eyes and imagine both hands - don’t look at them!

Choose one hand and raise it in the air, then open your eyes and look at it.

Stand up if you raised your left. Now sit down.

Stand up if you raised your right. Now sit down.

Ladies and Gentlemen you have just made a choice!”

I then told them a short version of the Parable of the Talents.

In the parable Jesus illustrates the importance of choice.

Simply told: one man used his talents and another buried them in the ground. The man who used his talents achieved something and became successful. The man who buried his talents achieved nothing!

Message: value your talents and use them.

I explained to the students that success will come in life if you follow a code for success. There are plenty of such codes, but the following is a tried and proven one.

Focus on the word CODE. What does it mean?

C: Means you must Choose to be Considerate and Kind.

O: means you must Choose to take the wise Opportunities Presented to you.

D: means you must Choose to be Determined to Achieve.

E: means you must Choose to be Enthusiastic and Bury the Word Boring.

Following the acronym CODE will help to bring a person success. While this talk was directed at the students it was certainly of advantage to all the adults.

Another talk was about “TIME” focussing on the two Ancient Greek words for Time - Chronos and Kairos.

Chronos refers to measurable time e.g. hours, days, years.

Kairos refers to the right time to do something.

We use Chronos regularly - school starts at 8.15am. It takes 20 minutes to walk to school. A quarter of football is 25 minutes.

“It’s not time to make a change just relax and take it easy” were the starting words of the song “Father and Son” sung by the great singer “Cat Stevens” about the advice from his father. To Cat Stevens Kairos had beckoned, and it was the right time for a change. Years later it was indeed the right time for a change. In 1979 Cat Stevens gave up his musical career to serve the Muslim community with Philanthropy and Education. For the next twenty years he only performed music which met strict Muslim Standards. In 2006 Kairos beckoned again and he returned to making secular music.

In 1985 I lived and taught in Maryborough, Country Victoria, for 7 years. The job of running St Philips as a residential College in Alice Springs was advertised and I “threw my hat into the ring.” I was interviewed and the next day was contacted to see if I still wanted to keep my “hat in the ring”. I said “yes”. I then spent the weekend tackling the pros and cons of moving to Alice with my family and on Monday contacted the person managing the applications and said I was withdrawing. By Wednesday I began to wonder if I had been hasty - was this indeed a Kairos moment. Then late on Wednesday night I received a phone call from the Council Chair, Mrs Jan Heaslip whom I had only met at the interview. Her opening words were “Christopher, what’s this nonsense about you withdrawing your application?” Having spent all weekend saying no, I spent two minutes and simply said yes! It is now 40 years later and I’m still in Alice. It was indeed a Kairos Moment!

So many decisions in a school are Kairos decisions. A classic is “what is the best time to have Lunch?” To decide on the right time requires taking into consideration many factors other than Chronos (time).

What is the best time to plant some new plants? Maybe not midday in the middle of summer. A Kairos decision may leave planting to Autumn in the morning.

My final comment is about the dangers of Procrastinating. A decision may require time for further thought if the right one is to be made. However, if there is a need to act immediately then act you must. Decision making is always the daily task and responsibility of a principal. Some decisions may need consultation (in a timely way) others may require a Principal to make it alone because there may be no time to consult. A person who can’t make decisions can’t be a Principal. Teachers must be encouraged to be wise and timely decision makers as indeed students should be educated to do the same. In this the understanding of Chronos and Kairos can be of great help.

Some Thought provoking quotes.

Nelson Mandela “The time is always ripe to do right.”

Ancient Greek. “Opportunity does not wait for she hath wings.”

William Shakespeare. “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

Benjamin Franklin. “Lost time is never found again.” 

Yes, when talking to a diverse group of students, “Make it Colourful and Keep it Simple!”