Times of celebration are important for all of us – not just because they are good excuses to have fun, but because they punctuate time and help us bring perspective into our lives. It may be at Christmas, birthdays, Chinese New Year, graduation, weddings, or any other time of celebration. All of these festivals are times to reflect over the successes of the recent past, and chances to think about how we can improve on them further in the future.

At i-Learner, the award ceremonies that occur at the end of each term are excellent examples of how celebration helps to draw our attention to the future progress. It was an honour to see our very own students who have achieved great things over the past term at the Stevenson term award ceremony, which took place last month. It is always a joy to see the smiles on our students’ faces when they receive their award, but more relevantly, every prize ceremony that I attend is a chance to identify the attitudes that have led our students to achieve: focus, perseverance, and hard work.

Celebrating these values shows students how they can strive to succeed, not only in their school work, but also in their future lives. The i-Learner prize ceremony is just one example of how celebrating can be a positive time not just for looking back, but also for looking forward.