On Sunday, I dropped by the Maths and Commerce building to check in on how our Year 12s were going after completing a week of exams. I was fascinated as some of the students shared their experience of the ATAR English and Chemistry papers, taking me back to 1978 when I sat Year 12 and there was much discussion and concern about the English and Accounting papers. I was instantly struck by how little that moment had defined my own journey, and here I am 48 years later, having a similar discussion with a group of Year 12s.
As the Class of 2026 approach the end of their school years, it is tempting to see this moment as a finishing line. Final classes, examinations, VET qualifications, graduation and results all appear to point towards an ending. But Year 12 is not really a finish line, it is a starting line.
A series of examinations or vocational experiences undertaken at 17 or 18 should never be allowed to define a young person or represent the limits of their potential. Ahead lie careers they do not yet know exist, people they have not met, opportunities they cannot yet imagine and, inevitably, setbacks that will take them in unexpected directions.
Our responsibility as the adults in their lives is to prepare them not simply to reach a destination, but to help them flourish throughout the journey by allowing them to challenge themselves, rather than avoiding or removing moments of hardship. Our role is to be by their side, supporting, mentoring and guiding.
In our understandable desire to give children every opportunity, we can inadvertently turn childhood into one long preparation programme: pre-season, in-season and post-season squads; specialist coaching; academies; extra tutoring; examinations; and carefully constructed pathways towards the next measurable achievement. This invites a challenging but important question for every parent and educator: whose dream are we seeking to fulfil?
Young people need ambition, challenge, discipline and high expectations. But they also need breadth, friendship, curiosity, play, disappointment and the freedom to discover interests we may never have imagined for them. A balanced journey is not an unambitious one. Rather, it creates the space in which genuine passion, resilience and excellence can emerge. The same principle applies to Year 12.
An ATAR matters, but it is not an identity. A university offer is an opportunity, not a definition of success. A VET qualification or apprenticeship opens an important door, but none of these determines where the journey will ultimately lead. Our role as parents and educators is not to script the destination, but to equip young people for the road ahead and, gradually, to trust them to choose their own direction.
As we prepare for our Valedictory evening, where we will farewell another group of Year 12 students, instead of asking, ‘What are you doing?’ or ‘Where are you going?’, perhaps we need to stay focused on what really matters. It is perhaps, then, that the question we should leave with our young people is something deeper: ‘Who are you becoming?’. Their ATAR, apprenticeship, university offer, sporting achievement or first job will matter, but none will define them.
The real measure will be found in the lives they build, the people they become and the contribution they make along the way. While their schooling may be ending, their education is not. The journey of becoming a healthy contributor to society has only just begun.
Our young boys at Scotch will experience so many opportunities and challenges along their journey, and our shared job is to guide them, not simply direct them.
Dr Alec J O’Connell
Headmaster
