Welcome to 2025 and Verus
We are excited to introduce Verus, a new digital platform designed to enhance communication and engagement between our School and families. As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering a connected community, Verus offers an intuitive and user-friendly experience for parents and guardians to stay informed about their child’s School experience.

If your daughter has an appointment during the day, it is important that you enter this via attendance on Verus. Students without parent consent will be delayed at the Front Office. It does not matter if your daughter is absent for the day or for a couple of weeks, you will need to add the absence via Verus.

We understand that transitioning to a new system can take time, and we are here to support you every step of the way. We encourage you to explore the features of Verus, as more detailed guidance and tips will be shared in the coming weeks.

The start of a new year is always an opportunity to reset and refocus. It is important that girls are wearing their summer uniform and hat to and from School. I have noticed that there are a number of students who are not wearing plain studs or sleeper earrings. Hoops are not to be worn to School.

If your daughter is bringing a mobile phone or smart watch to School, the device needs to be turned off and in her locked locker, following with an email to rgiles@wilderness.com.au to let me know that you are aware that this device is at School. These devices will be taken by staff and given to the Middle School Office if they are used during the School day.

Middle School Student Representative Council
A special assembly was held this week to present the 2025 Middle School Student Representative Council (SRC) with their leadership badges.

During the Year 12 Dedication Service, we sang Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You, a hymn that embodies the spirit of leadership at Wilderness—one focused on service, community, and shared experiences. This year, the Middle School SRC will work alongside their Year 12 counterparts on various initiatives to fundraise, build, and serve the Wilderness community. They will also participate in the Lean In Girls program, a leadership curriculum that fosters self-assurance, resilience, and inclusivity.

The following students were presented with their badges:

• Library Representatives: Chenuthi Navaratne and Zixu (Miaomiao) Zhu

• Music Representatives: Anya Chawla and Selin Cinar

• Round Square: Tong Guan and Amber Trappel

• Sport Representatives: Eziije Nwachuku and Beatrice Sutton

• Student Foundation Representatives: Evangeline Lee and Nina Stradwick

• Visual Arts Representatives: Ariarne Galbraith and Sirui Tang

• Middle School SRC Secretary – Sharon Zhai

• Middle School SRC Vice President – Matilda Burns

• Middle School SRC President – Isabella Dolan

The girls have met with their staff mentors and the Year 12 SRC to set goals and plan for the year ahead. We look forward to hearing about their initiatives in future assemblies.

Kind regards,
Rhiannon Giles
Head of Middle School

SPORT UPDATE
Wilderness sport is well and truly up and running this Term 1 Summer season! Our Middle/ Senior competitions for Rowing, Touch, Tennis, Basketball and Volleyball have commenced and it has been fantastic to see how quickly our girls and coaches have hit the competition with competitiveness.

Preparation for our Middle / Senior Swimming Carnival is almost finalised as we look forward to 20 February for the big day. It will be the first opportunity of 2025 for our 5 Houses to battle it out for some silverware.

Jonathon Koutsikas
Director of Sport and Recreation