Dear Elementary Families,

As we enter into this Labor Day holiday in which we take a brief rest from our work, I am reminded of the words of the apostle Paul which says do not grow and well doing for and doing so you will receive a reward look that up.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

As we get to the end of the school year the weather turns warm in our minds turned to the summer holidays. A school can become a place in great distraction. It takes real effort to keep the focus that has given us success throughout the school year. So I’m sending this weekly warrior as a reminder that we still have a month and a half left and I want to encourage everyone to finish strong.

I like to review these common routines and disciplines that I usually speak about at the beginning of the school year.  Things like good sleep, nutrition routines, and limiting recreational screen time, as well as being prepared for the school day with the materials and a growth mindset that we need to learn.  I’d also like to raise an additional issue that we are seeing in the school that has to do with attentiveness and consideration for others.

They really go together. Of course, students need to pay attention to their lessons and to teachers as they are providing explicit instruction and modeling of concepts in the classroom. But really, this kind of attentiveness begins with the attention that we give to one another. In his book, The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming relationship in a technological world, Andy Crouch proposes that from birth humans have this predisposition to look outward with the hope and anticipation that someone will look back.  He beautifully describes those first hours of a baby’s life when they are looking in “quiet attentiveness” and discover, most often, their mother’s face looking attentively back at them.

This is sometimes why children act out. They simply want to be noticed.  This is even recognized in popular culture in the movie Avatar, where these large blue alien creatures have a greeting that says, “I see you.” This reflects the desire and expectation that when we consider one another, and when we are attentive to another, it will come back to us in a reciprocal way.

In the classroom, we need students to be attentive to their teachers.  This is why the school preaches good sleep and nutrition and routines that allow for this as well as being prepared for the school day with the materials and a growth mindset that we need to learn.  In addition, for student safety,  we also need them to be attentive to our teaching assistants and other adults in the building who are supervising and directing  them in our common spaces and less structured times. There is, however, a deeper and more fundamental kind of attention that we’ve communicated recently with students about being considerate of others. 

Noticing others and greeting one another, perhaps not with the Avatar greeting of “I see you”, but simply by saying good morning or hello Mr. or Mrs. ….  I’ve learned how important this is in my time in Hong Kong that children greet their elders and we would like to build on this good training to encourage this part of Hong Kong culture but also part of our Christian culture here at ICS.  

Consideration means to think about the other person. Do I see them? Do I think about what they need? Our ESRL to Act as Responsible Members of a Global Community has this at its core in Philippians 2:3-4 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

We are told here not just to think of (or consider) our own needs but to value others and to be attentive to the interests of others - to honor others.  

As we finish this year well together, let’s continue to partner in attentiveness and consideration.  We can do this in simple ways, both at home and at school: 

• by greeting others warmly and sincerely

• by requiring attention before we speak to one another, which means our children and we will have to look away from our devices, 

• by calling our children’s attention to others around them when we are at home or out in public.  

This helps to build empathy and attentiveness to the people around us, as we seek to raise responsive and respectful individuals and disciples of Jesus Christ.

Welcome to the last season of activities for 2025/26