The Primary 1 Registration Exercise is officially over!

For some parents, there were cheers of joy. For others, perhaps just a quiet sense of relief and gratitude that their child has a place in a school close to home.

But now that the registration is over, perhaps there is a bigger question worth asking:

What do you hope to see in your child after six years of primary school?

Do you wish for your child to develop a spirit of excellence?

What does excellence really mean?

Perhaps it simply means:

• To be our best self.
• To be the best we can be.
• To become the best version of ourselves.

My child once put it to me much more simply:

“Dad, just be professional.”

Those words stayed with me.

Because excellence isn’t necessarily about being No. 1.

It isn’t about always getting the best grades, winning every competition or being better than everyone else.

It is about the attitude we bring to whatever has been entrusted to us—and choosing to give it our best.

Steve Jobs famously said:

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed a similar thought:

“Excellence is not an exception; it is a prevailing attitude.”

So, what happens when excellence becomes more than something we occasionally strive for—and becomes a habit?

Born in Warsaw, Maria Salomea Skłodowska was known for her intellectual rigour and relentless pursuit of excellence. She became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in both Physics and Chemistry.

We know her better as Marie Curie.

Can you spot Marie Curie and Albert Einstein in the picture?

Perhaps that is one of the greatest things we can teach our children: the desire to give their best in whatever they are called to do.

Schools matter.

Teachers matter.

Environment matters.

But long after our children leave their primary school, what will remain with them?

Hopefully, it will be the values they have learned, the habits they have formed, and the character they have built along the way.

And perhaps, among them, a spirit of excellence.