Learning is not a competitive sport | Concluding the series profiling the class of 2025
At Trinity we believe learning to be relational: it is embedded in all different kinds of relationships, both within and beyond school, and when we invest in these relationships, our learning is enriched. Relationships between students and teachers, between fellow learners or peers, with those a little ahead of us in the learning journey like peer support leaders and House Captains, with our families and friends, with God and fellow spiritual travelers, can all become foundational not only to how we learn and what we learn, but the satisfaction and joy we experience while we learn. This is why we use the language of community, why we spend time nurturing social-emotional as well as academic skills, why we prioritise questions and collaboration as much as individual focus when mastering content. It’s why co-curricular investment is equally as important as academic diligence. It’s why we resist the view that learning is competitive and that competition or extra hard marking can make us work harder and achieve better (a view for which there is absolutely no concrete evidence!)
This week is the final post profiling our most recent graduates – the class of 2025. Alex Christian, who pursued the HSC, and Ethan Wong, who selected the IB Diploma, are fine alumni to conclude the series. Both of these young men offer sincere reflection on the relationships that were most sustaining to them as they tackled the demands of their final years of secondary education. They both find relationships anchored in learning, in faith, in family and in friendship to have been pivotal to their personal success. They reflect that their growth was not measured only in facts and knowledge and examination know-how and grades and marks, but in the depth and maturity of the relationships that supported them. In the end it was relationships that mattered more than outcomes.
To students and families who remain amid their academic journeys, I commend the words of these young men and the wide lens perspectives they offer. Alex and Ethan do give some sound practical advice about work habits and planning, but they choose to talk mostly about the intricate web of people who they allowed to support them. They remind us to look up, to look beyond the immediate challenges we face, and rely upon those who travel with us. They remind us that support is always available in a community. You can read about Alex’s journey here and Ethan’s journey here.
The purpose of these articles has been, in part, to showcase aspects of the Trinity learning environment that are most central to who we are. But they are also shared as inspiration and encouragement to students at very different points in their own journeys. As I conclude a series that I have very much enjoyed writing, I would like to sincerely invite readers to reach out to the School if there is an aspect of your own, or your son’s, learning that you would actually like to chat about a little more. If there is something in one of these profiles you wish you understood more deeply or want to find more about, then Housemasters, the Pastoral Office and the Academic Office are ready to chat with you – just ask!
You can read the full series of profiles at these links:
Stretch as a learning principle
Keep calm and play the long game
For a detailed overview of the Class of 2025’s IB and HSC results, please visit the Results Overview page.
