Welcome all to the new school year. I hope that you had a happy summer break with your families and friends. We are looking forward to seeing your daughters on Wednesday morning for the first day of term—and, for some of them, their very first day at Wilderness.

There are a few things that the Heads of School and I would like to share before term begins tomorrow. If you are a new parent and this is your first time receiving Life in the Wilderness, in the future, you can expect this online newsletter in your inbox regularly as a way for us to share news, advise upcoming key dates and important information and celebrate your daughter’s learning experiences.

Many of our girls have remained active in their co-curricular interests throughout the holidays. Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award applicants travelled to Tasmania in December to trek the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, as part of their Adventurous Journey. Our rowers have also been busy, working hard at their annual January camp. The day girls amongst the squad have enjoyed the novelty of living in the Boarding House, in between their on-water sessions at West Lakes. We also christened two new boats—fittingly named after the outstanding and sustained efforts of Jen Guest and Ben Manifold. With many talented girls in our ranks, we are greatly anticipating the upcoming regattas.

Over the break, you may have heard about ‘ChatGPT’ in the news, and the various ways in which educational organisations are responding to this artificial intelligence technology, which was launched in November last year, and amassed millions of users in mere days. The tool allows you to type in questions, to which it will provide a conversational answer—however, it has already been proven capable of writing a basic essay, and some studies have found that it meets the minimum requirements to pass university exams.

South Australia, unlike some other states, has been positive about educating our young people with, and about, emerging technologies. At Wilderness, in preparing our girls for their futures, we also believe that it is important that they understand the capabilities, limitations and ethics of technological use. As teachers, we will continue to ensure that our girls have the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for a successful future and that our learning design and assessment practices reflect this.

There is always a hum of excitement as we await the first day of school. We are preparing to launch right into the term with a major celebration on Friday night: the Year 11 and 12 Formal. We hope that this will be a beautiful night for our Senior School girls to reflect and celebrate the friendships they have formed throughout their education, before they delve into the challenging but enriching learning that awaits them in their final years of school.

I am once again excited for our girls to begin another year of learning tomorrow, and look forward to seeing all of their endeavours and achievements.