It has been wonderful to usher the Middle School girls into 2021 and host several events to make them all feel warmly welcomed. Our Orientation Breakfast on Sunday 24 January enabled our new girls and families to familiarise themselves with our staff, campus and routines before the first day of school. It was so refreshing to see our school once again filled with excited girls.

We are particularly delighted to begin the transition for Year 7 girls and families as they set out on their journey in the Middle School. Already the girls have been involved in a Positive Wellbeing Workshop and preparation sessions for their Crawford Camp coming up in Week 5. Form teachers and Heads of House have enjoyed meeting Year 7 parents at our Information Evening held in Week 1.

Our Year 9 girls have started the year by sharing with their cohort their vision of leadership in 2021, as they apply for Middle School SRC positions. The maturity, awareness and care that the girls have shown through their speeches has been overwhelming. Some excerpts from their speeches are included below:

I enjoy making a difference which motivates me to do the best I can. I try to make my voice heard in this big world. Eleni Papagiannis

I believe Middle School is the perfect time that we reward and appreciate all students for their individualism and hence bring about a culture that nurtures their growth where we can build lifelong friendships. Siyeon Kim

But that is what Wilderness School is all about, isn’t it? - Trying new things, being adventurous and staying true to yourself. I also believe it is essential for us to take advantage of all the opportunities Wilderness has to offer, and one of the best ways of doing this is being active in the community. Isabella Rosser

Leadership isn’t about having the best speech or the best ideas or the most friends, it’s showing up to ensure the voices of your community are heard. And that’s my vision for 2021. I want to make sure that every single person in this room is heard. Joanna Robinson

After going in and out of the School gates for the past 11 years, I realised that although everyone has such a wide variety of talents, backgrounds, and beliefs, when it comes to celebrating our school, we all come together and form one big family. Rose Newman

In 2021 I want the Wildy community to appreciate all the amazing environment and flora we are lucky to have around the School. I want Wildy girls to participate in giving back to the land we live on. Emily Johannsen

I have participated in one touch training where I failed to pass the ball and one awful tournament where I spent most of my time on the bench. A few seasons of tennis where I barely managed to hit the ball over the net. Two years of hockey where I spent all the games on the ground, constantly falling over and a singular soccer training where I discovered soccer was not for me. But what I’m trying to say is that despite all my failures, I still managed to stay positive and determined. This is the kind of mindset I would bring to the sports community. I believe that my confidence and grit would bring many successes to Middle School Sport at Wildy. Arabella Bahr

I’ve only been attending Wildy for three years but have thoroughly embraced our four core values. They’ve taught me not to be afraid of taking risks, to never shy away from activities solely because they’re new and more importantly, to be the most courageous, true, adventurous, responsible, and kindest version of myself.  Fengfan Zhang

Yondr Pouches

One of the exciting changes that we have implemented this year in the Middle and Senior School is the introduction of Yondr pouches for mobile phones. Our Mobile Phone and Smart Watch policy asks that girls in Years 7-12 do not bring their phones or smart watches to school. Should parents seek permission for their daughter to bring their phone to school for the purposes of contacting them outside of school hours, girls are required to keep their phones in their lockers to enable them to focus on their learning and their social engagement. Girls do have access to their school device for learning throughout the day, which gives us the capacity to monitor use to better keep our girls safe online.

Like many adults, adolescents find it tempting to use phones during the day if they are easily accessible. The Yondr pouches, which are being used increasingly at concerts, weddings and special events, as well as in schools, enable another layer of support for our girls to develop personal patterns to stay fully engaged with each other and their surroundings throughout their day.

Yondr pouches are a simple, lockable system for storing phones. Every Year 7-12 girl has been issued with their pouch and are required to bring it to school if they have also sought permission to bring a phone. Magnetic locking stations have been placed at both the main gate on Hawkers Road and Northcote Road gate, as well as other key areas in the School. This will enable girls to unlock their pouch to secure or remove their phone as they arrive at or leave school.

All Middle and Senior School girls participated in a presentation from Yondr representatives this week so that they were aware of the purpose and benefits of the Yondr pouches as well as the expectations of the School.