the end of term
Artworks made by students at Corryong College in December 2023
Things to do before the school term ends.
- Wipe down C5
- Clean and tidy desk area
- Print and hand out staff portrait postcards
it's friday december 15th
why doesn't school finish today
atars were released this week
poor kids
i am not sure i had an atar
uR AtaR DoEsN'T DeFinE u
you are probably wondering about the artwork, maybe
i didn't make them
they were an end of year activity
acetate, paint pens, carbon copy paper, watercolour
students have checked out for the year
but they did enjoy making these
so did the staff receiving them
we scanned and shrunk them down to postcard size
to put on the staffroom table
a little bit of nice
why doesn't school finish today
''And how do I convey what these young people mean to me? How do I explain that, years later, those past students appear in my mind at unexpected times, and I find myself wondering not what they are doing, not where they are, but simply if they are happy? ... all I can do is never take this job for granted. For me, it's the best there is.”
Brendan James Murray - The School.
In the last week of school, when everything feels half-finished—half-packed-up classrooms, half-attended classes, half-eaten candy canes on desks—we did something unexpectedly lovely.
Students were invited to make artworks of their favourite staff members. It was simple: acetate sheets, paint pens, carbon copy paper, a few watercolours lying around. Nothing fancy. No rubric. No pressure.
But something happened.
They got into it—not in a loud, performative way, but in the slow, quiet concentration that usually only comes out when they’re actually into something. They joked about the teachers they picked. They shared their work with each other.. One student agonised over getting a nose “just right.” Another refused to draw the staff member they liked best, because they didn’t want to “ruin it.”
These weren’t assessments. They weren’t for marks. They were just for… joy? Expression? Tribute?
And for the staff who received them—shrunk down to postcard size and left like little surprises on the table in the staffroom—it meant something. It cut through the end-of-year burnout. For a moment, it was just: Oh. Someone thought of me. Someone saw me.
In a time of year that often feels like coasting to the finish line, this small act of creativity and appreciation landed differently. It reminded me why schools aren’t just about exams or curriculum points—they’re about connection. About community.
It was, in every way, a little bit of nice.