The Year 5 to Year 12 Celebration Night took place on Monday 7 December, 2015, at the Kingston City Hall, Moorabbin. Read our School Captains’ addresses here:

 

School Captain Kathleen Kiddell
Celebration Night Address, 7 December 2015

School-Captain-Kathleen-Kiddell‘At this moment, it is 6 days, 23 hours, 0 minutes and 0 seconds until our Year 12 results are released. Not that we’re counting.

But the whole concept of a receiving a ranking got us thinking about how we actually measure success. Do we measure it in how many times we’ve laughed in the day? Or how many people we’ve made smile? I don’t think there’s a definitive measure nor one than is more valid than another.

But at the end of the day, we know as students of Cornish that success is not all about the number. Cornish is about more than receiving a ranking, Cornish is about becoming good people who want to make a difference and want to make the world better.

As Year 12s we now have a much greater understanding about what ‘make a difference’ actually means. We know that to ‘make a difference’ means to improve the world around you, be it on a global scale or to the person sitting next to you.

The world we live in faces many problems, but after our time here at Cornish, we know that the problems of humanity will not be solved by numbers alone; a sustainable future for us all requires more than numbers on a certificate, it requires compassionate, engaged, curious and kind-hearted people who will act on the basis of our common humanity.

We know that to be truly successful is to make a difference. There are 17 of us in Year 12 this year. We know that some of us will make a difference in the traditional sense, be it in engineering, politics, law or medicine. But all of us will make a difference everyday by being the people we are, the confident young adults that Cornish has led us to become.’

School Captain Robert Boag
Celebration Night Address, 7 December 2015

School-Captain-Robert-Boag‘There can be no doubt that Cornish has taught us many valuable lessons; on how we should define ourselves, on how we can make a difference.

But perhaps the greatest lesson that we have learnt has been one of courage in the face of adversity; one that we witnessed first hand through the extraordinary example shown by the school community when Cornish faced closure four years ago.

Tonight is perhaps the most fitting occasion to reflect on that time, as Cornish finishes its first successful year as a complete school from ELC to Year 12.

As we finish our education as Cornish’s first Year 12 students, it seems hard to believe that only four short years ago, it seemed inevitable that Cornish would disappear forever. Yet here we are tonight. It is impossible to describe just how grateful we all feel as students, to have been given the opportunity to complete our final years of schooling at Cornish.

Although facing uncertainty and many challenges, our teachers gave us positivity, leadership and hope every day. We learned to turn recriminations into positive outcomes, to make the best of our situation. Our teachers and the entire school community have worked selflessly to create and teach a superb senior years program.

Despite the many challenges, you always kept our best interests at heart, constantly working to maximise our chances, to not only to succeed academically, but also to explore a wide variety of extracurricular experiences that have helped shape the confident, expressive and passionate young people that we are today.

The extraordinary dedication of our remarkable, passionate teachers has given us the opportunity to learn and grow as people, in an environment that is unparalleled and with a curriculum regarded as world-class.

You allowed us to realise our potential to be unique, independent, life-long learners, who can make a difference to our world; and for that we will always be grateful.

Thank you.’