What a busy start to the year in the Middle School! We always begin the year with Orientation Morning for all new students to the Middle School and our Year 7 girls. The day was full of excitement and there were many waves through my office windows as girls toured the school to find the classrooms on their new timetable.
The Year 7 Parent Coffee Morning and the P&F Drinks provided opportunities for parents to meet with staff, and it was wonderful to meet so many new families and welcome them to the community.
Year 6 to 12 girls had the opportunity to explore ways they could be involved in the School community at the inaugural Student Experience Expo. Memorial Lawns were packed with girls finding out more about the clubs, committees, music and sport opportunities on offer this year.
SAPOL joined us for the annual Traffic Duty Training, ensuring girls understand how to complete their duties safely and confidently. This term the Year 10s are rostered on, but the remainder of the year is completed by Middle School girls. Rosters for before and after school duty timeslots are organised during Form with the support of Form Teachers.
The Year 8s enjoyed the Burn Bright program on Wednesday this week. The themes explored during the day included social and emotional skills, interpersonal awareness, building respectful relationships, effective communication, problem solving and navigating unkind behaviours in social settings.
At this week’s MS SRC Assembly, our new Middle School Leaders were presented with their badges, and today they met with their staff and Year 12 mentors to plan their initiatives and goals for the year. Congratulations again to the following Year 9 girls who were elected by their peers late last year to lead the Middle School.
President – Georgia Gibson
Vice President – Amelia Yip
Secretary – Leyla Antonis
Library Representatives – Emma Herbert, Isabelle Morgan
Music Representatives – Bonnie Cabot, Jade Sammut
Round Square – Zumurod Shibeeb, Gabrielle Sun
Sport Representatives – Poppy Detmold Cox, Angelique Whittaker
Student Foundation Representatives – Victoria Henderson, Pranavi Meruga
Visual Arts Representatives – Margot Colby, Serena Yao
At the assembly I spoke about Steven Bradbury, Australia’s first gold medallist at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Many hold Bradbury up as an example of the value of an underdog never giving up, but I think his win was also a reminder that you need to make the most of the opportunities that come your way.
This week Lindsey Vonn, a skier from the US, took to social media to comment following a crash on Sunday:
“Similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life. We can try.”
These words have really resonated with me this week as each Middle School girl will have been challenged to jump at the beginning of a school year. It might be that they are starting a new school, learning a new language, nominating for an event at the Swimming Carnival or preparing for camp.
School is a place where students are encouraged by their parents, peers and teachers to take these opportunities in a safe and supportive environment. These opportunities are carefully constructed to challenge students to push themselves just a little further than they thought they could go. In doing so, girls practise and develop skills they can draw on the next time they are challenged.
When things do not go to plan and perhaps hearts are broken, there will be a team of people ready to provide support as they navigate their feelings and think about regrouping and planning their next steps.
The compulsory Year 7 Camp is a chance for girls to form friendships within their House groups and build stronger connections with their House teachers. Our Outdoor Education Team are highly skilled and have run special sessions at school this week to help students prepare for their first Middle School camp.
Each camp builds towards our final compulsory Outdoor Education experience, our three week program in Year 9 called REALISE. When I visit the girls at Crawford, I often hear Rosie Smith explain the idea of “Challenge by Choice”, encouraging the girls to be brave and choose their level of challenge.
I encourage your daughters to reach out and discuss any aspect of camp they may be worried about with their Form Teacher, Head of House or our Outdoor Education teachers.
