
All about Honour
Our final High School assembly for term 2 was a team effort with “Honour” being the topic of the day. Mrs Faria introduced the topic by stating that the concept of honour needs to be re-instilled in the minds of many and that there are different kinds of honour and different people in our lives we need to honour.
For example we honour our parents, husbands and wives honour each other, we honour people who have done admirable things, we honour the elderly, we honour those ones that are placed above us, our leaders and those ones that are placed there to help us in our path of life, like our teachers, coaches or mentors.
Mrs Faria displayed some synonyms to relate the idea more clearly to the students and words like “hold in great respect, hold in high esteem, have a high regard for, appreciate, value, prize, reverence and worship” aided in explaining the concept.
Mrs Martin shared from her wealth of knowledge of the ancient chivalry code of conduct which dates back to the Moors and gave interesting facts on how many nations, and in fact our civilisation at large, were founded on this deep sense of honour and respect between a man and a woman.
Year 12 student, and SRC secretary, Connor Schoeman, added to this with his talk about how in the olden days, and even today in the US, soldiers were honoured for their bravery, and the code of honour which they adhere to, and that even the enemy, although coming to fight you, is to be honoured as another human being. He concluded by encouraging the students to honour one another, even if they did not like each other, but based on the fact that we are all living human beings.
Jethro Bezuidenhout in Year 10 and Miss Erasmus both told us of ways in which one can honour our parents. Jethro said he tries to be mindful that after a long day’s work, his parents might be tired too, and how easy it is just to lend a helping hand in making dinner or something that needs to be done. Miss Erasmus mentioned that now she is not living with her parents anymore, a way to honour them is to consciously make time to spend with them to show them that she values and loves them.
Miss Caldeira shared how students can honour their teachers simply by remembering that it is a two-way collaboration, where you have to work together and that open communication between students and teachers is a simple yet effective way to honour each other and keep the relationship healthy.
Having sat in the principal’s seat herself, Ms Black, gave students and teachers, valuable and unique insight of her experience as a Principal and this added to the concept of honouring leaders.
Mrs Faria concluded by explaining from the heart, how teachers also honour students by being committed to the job, being there every day, by planning and structuring their lessons specifically to suit everyone’s needs and trying to use different ways, methods and teaching styles to make sure everyone understands and accommodate the students and often going the extra mile and caring for them.
Finally a word of honour and a warm round of applause was given to Mr Hartman, our High School coordinator, and direct leader, as a token of our gratitude and appreciation for his hard and excellent work and dedication to managing the High School, amidst running a full timetable and for displaying understanding and kindness.
Mrs Jolene Faria, Travel & Tourism