Year 7 Camp

Our camp program is an integral part of each student’s learning journey through the school. Camps commence in Year 3 and are held every year to Year 12. Each year level has a different focus for their camp and the experiences offered through the camps are many and varied. Camps teach young people leadership skills, cooperation, responsibility and resilience. They are a compulsory and important part of the school’s educational package.

The focus of the recent Year 7 camp was ‘getting to know each other.’ This camp is always held early in the year to give our new Senior School students and staff an opportunity to get to know each other beyond their normal timetabled classes. The camp was a great success. My thanks to Mr Ben Peake (Head of Year 7) who organised the camp and to the large number of staff who offered their own time to attend the camp.

Nature Navigators

I commend Ms Vanessa Hodgkiss and the Foundation to Year 2 teaching team for their initiative, Nature Navigators. The genesis for this new program commenced last year when staff read The Anxious Generation by Jonathon Haidt. In his book, Haidt says ‘Children need a great deal of free play to thrive. It’s an imperative that’s evident across all mammal species. The small-scale challenges and setbacks that happen during play are like an inoculation that prepares children to face much larger challenges later’ (page 7).

This year, children in Foundation to Year 2 will become Nature Navigators through the provision of free play time at a variety of outdoor locations. Each child will be free to play, explore, build, run, jump and get dirty. Specially designed mud suits will protect their clothing while they get wet and dirty during their navigation of nature.

Our Nature Navigators commence their free play exploration of the world this week.

NAPLAN Preparations

We are well prepared for the 2025 NAPLAN tests which will be conducted this week. I wish our Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students all the best as they complete their assessments. The results of these tests provide diagnostic information for parents and teachers about your child’s performance in the areas of literacy, numeracy, writing and conventions of language. This information will be used to support teaching and learning programs and improve student achievement. It is important to remember that the results reflect each student’s performance at a single point in time only. NAPLAN complements, but does not replace, our in-school data collection and reporting.

Junior School Presentation Assemblies

Our much-anticipated Junior School Presentation Assemblies have resumed and what a treat they have been. Thanks to 4H who started off the year with their presentation which focused on how to do your best at school. This week the students of 6BNI taught the audience how put the school values into action through their Super Mario Party presentation. Congratulations to the Year 6 students who wrote their own script and learnt their lines off by heart.

Year 8 Swimming Program

The Year 8 swimming program is well underway. Having a basic level of swimming competency is a vital skill for all Australians as so much of our leisure time is spent in and around the water. I commend the Health and PE staff for providing swimming lessons each year to ensure our students are confident in the water.

Senior School Debating

Debating in Senior School was launched this year through the House Debating competition. Congratulations to all students who debated with such poise and confidence. We have seen huge growth in debating thanks to the work of our debating coordinator Ms Naomi Weiler and wonderful Debating Captain Anushka. The number of teams we have entered in the Debating Association of Victoria competition has doubled and the debating skills of our students are continuing to develop. Congratulations to all students who have stepped up into debating.

Kitchen Garden

I am thrilled to see our school kitchen garden taking shape again. Thanks to Mr Tim Randall who has started a lunchtime gardening club, the garden beds have been weeded and the soil has been refreshed ready for planting. We have purchased the seedlings and will plant them over the coming week once the weather has cooled. I look forward to reaping the fruits of the Kitchen Garden Club’s labour soon.

Thank you to the PFC for their generous funding to establish this club. Their donation paid for gardening equipment, seedlings and fertilisers.

Fiona Williams

Principal

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Disagreeing with Civility

Disagreement is inevitable in human interactions. Although not always easy, it is natural and can, in an ideal world, lead to increased understanding and richer perspectives. Without wishing to sound negative, it appears that in some quarters we are losing the ability to disagree with civility. 

Too often, we listen to someone without really seeking to understand their perspective and their reasons for believing what they do. If we accept that this is true, there is plenty of blame to go around and it is easy to point to a range of aspects of society which have contributed to this: social media (which I would contend is not actually ‘media’ and often not ‘social’); polarised political discourse; decreased respect for institutions, truth and expertise; and a mainstream media landscape which prioritises strong reactions over thoughtful responses. 

The seminal business and leadership book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Habit 5) asks us to ‘seek first to understand, then to be understood.’ This wisdom, if rigorously applied, would help us all to disagree with more civility, as would the (frequently misattributed) quote ‘be curious, not judgemental.’ But if we seek ancient wisdom with this essential message, the Book of Proverbs has many helpful instructions, including: ‘To answer before listening — that is folly and shame,’ (Proverbs 18:13). Although the causes are many, we all have a role to play in modelling and teaching the skill of genuinely listening to understand, rather than being hasty to dismiss ideas which challenge our own.

Robert Jacob

Deputy Principal & Head of Wellbeing