There was plenty of colour, pretty dresses and happy chatter at The Coldstream Restaurant this afternoon as our Grade 7 girls joined the ladies of Union High School’s Primary Department for their 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀’ 𝘁𝗲𝗮.
At the heart of this lovely little tradition is something quite simple: 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹.
𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 7𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 8.
With a cheerful floral theme, delicious cake and good company, it was a lovely opportunity for the girls and their teachers to spend some time together away from the usual bustle of the school day.
The afternoon also gave everyone a chance to get to know 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱, our 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, a little better. She introduced herself to the girls, who in turn had the opportunity to give her a proper Grade 7 welcome.
Another particularly meaningful part of the afternoon was a talk by 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸, who shared some thoughtful words with the girls about growing up, embracing change and learning to appreciate the young women they are becoming.
Drawing on the familiar story of 𝘚𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, Mrs Brink encouraged the girls to think about what they see when they look at themselves. As they enter their teenage years, she reminded them that growing up brings all sorts of changes, both exciting and challenging, but that 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.
One of her loveliest messages was about the danger of comparing ourselves to others.
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘰𝘺. Just as every instrument has its own part to play in a beautiful piece of music, every girl has her own strengths, personality and special qualities to bring to the world.
Referring to Psalm 139:14, she reminded them that each of them is 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲, and encouraged them to look in the mirror with kindness rather than criticism. Each girl received a little mirror bearing those very words, a small but meaningful reminder to take with her.
Her message was a simple one, but certainly worth remembering: 𝘉𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘺.
Visit our Facebook page to view photos of the event.
And really, that fitted so beautifully with what the afternoon was all about. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺, sharing a few meaningful moments and celebrating all the wonderful things that make each of our girls who they are.
𝗔 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗻, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄.
