Stronger Together

On Monday last week I had the privilege of attending a leadership conference with eight of our Year 11 students run by Ecumenical School Australia (ESA). Although it is listed at the end of Casey Grammar's letterhead, many of our families may not be aware of the fact that Casey Grammar is part of a broader network of schools that includes 17 Member schools and four Associate Member schools from all across Australia. This is such an incredible resource for our school as it provides network opportunities for individuals in certain positions in the school as well as chances for our students to meet like-minded students from other schools. 

It was a wonderful sight to see over 170 students from various schools all seated at tables in the Exhibition Centre talking about leadership. Many of these schools were started with the assistance of Reverend John Leaver (after whom our Leaver House is named). In fact, if you visit many of these schools, you will also find other Leaver Houses! 

As an Anglican Minister, he had a passion for ensuring that families all across the state had access to an education based on Christian values and foundations. We owe so much of our wonderful school to his tireless commitment. Earlier this year, our School Captain, Ryan also had the opportunity to meet other Leaver Award winners as part of an all-day opportunity to celebrate various students who had contributed in a meaningful way to their communities. 

So, next time you receive a letter from the school that acknowledges our membership, hopefully it will give you a greater sense of appreciation for what that provides for our school, and for our students.

The Joy of Reading

Last week, as we celebrated Book Week, our school was privileged to hear from authors, and our students have been given the chance to share the joy of reading. I consider myself very blessed to be in the role of Chaplain at Casey Grammar as it has such a wonderful scope with varied chances to connect with and spend time with different members of our community. Prior to covid, one of the best ways I could start the day was by reading with our F–2 students. 

Now, as parent reading in the classroom has returned this year, I’ve had the pleasure of reading with a number of our F–2 students, hearing about everything from AFL footy to the animals of the rainforest. As someone who is also an English teacher, the wonders of watching someone learning to read (and coming to master it) is always a delight. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the incredible work and dedication of the F–2 staff as they encourage our early readers on their journey of literacy.

Sharing Faith

In Term 3 Year 7 Religious Education we explore the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths, whilst in Term 4 we grow in our understanding of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. This year we invited students to be filmed discussing their religious tradition. It was wonderful that we had students from both Junior School and Senior School who were willing to give up their lunchtimes to participate in this project. Their generosity grows understanding and we are very grateful to them.

Throughout these coming weeks, may you have a sense of the presence of God in your moments of quiet, the still small voice that speaks to our hearts.

Monique Riviere-Pendle

Chaplain