Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 for graduating! All the best as you embark on an exciting new journey into secondary schools, but remember you are always welcomed back at Abbotsford Primary School! Here is a surprise from our in-house director, Hao...

... and the Principal's Speech for the Class of 2020 Graduation (held on 17 Dec 2020):

Good morning parents, carers, community members and students,

It is with great pleasure today that I am here to celebrate with you all on the achievements of our Year 6 students. The Class of 2020 has had a year like no other. The students completed their final year of primary schooling at a time where, on a day-to-day basis, the only constant was change, and the only certainty was uncertainty.

It is also from the experience of 2020, that we have seen tremendous growth in the resilience, independence, empathy and self-leadership of our Year 6 students.

Despite having only been the principal of Abbotsford Primary School for 54 days, I have had the privilege to work with this graduating class very closely through student leadership activities, student surveys, writing our fortnightly newsletters and running school assemblies.

I have been particularly impressed by the sense of urgency shown by the Year 6 students as they settled back into onsite learning, maximising every opportunity to catch up on their learning, their friendships and their connections with the Abbotsford community. And for this, I would like to congratulate you on what has been a year of many personal achievements that I think will start you very well as you embark on your secondary school journeys.

When I was reflecting on what has continued to give the Class of 2020 that inner strength to make it through a year as unusual as 2020, I was inspired to ask them directly.

And as a school that prides itself on our bilingual education, I also thought it would be most appropriate to draw upon the wisdom of the Chinese language. So when I received the answers from our Year 6 students, My Hoa and I searched through the Chinese dictionary and refined our selection to one character which we hope captures that personal growth, and would serve for you to remember your time at Abbotsford, and also, for the school community to remember you.

This tradition of selecting a character to represent a year is one that is very special for many people in countries where Chinese characters are used, including China, Taiwan, Japan and even Korea.

So, for the Class of 2020, I present to you the character 乐, which is pronounced le to mean ‘joy’ and yue to mean ‘music’. This character appears in many vocab that I think really capture what our Year 6 students have demonstrated and experienced – happiness, optimism, willingness, to enjoy together, to donate, to indulge, to never be tired of, and to find joy in difficulty.

I think many adults here today would agree with me that many of these qualities may take a lifetime to acquire, so for the Class of 2020, we congratulate you for having made it through this year and completed your primary schooling, being able to demonstrate many of these personal qualities that we know will set you up for success in your journey ahead.

So once again, congratulations on your graduation.

恭喜毕业！