In 1951, Miss Mamie Brown said:

“Wilderness School is very dear to me. I hand it over to you. Try to keep it simple, hard-working, friendly and with the right set of values. Pass this message as a torch to future councils, headmistresses, teachers and especially to the girls; for it is the girls who make the School.”

The same sentiment still rings true to this day – it is the girls who make our School what it is. However, more widely, it is also the wonderful community that makes Wilderness such a beautiful place to be.

I had the pleasure of joining our community for the 2021 Wilderness Foundation Gala over the weekend.

It was a magnificent evening and showed the true power of what we can achieve when we work together with a common goal in mind. For the gala, this was to raise funds to open a doorway to a brand new future for a girl through our scholarship offerings.

Thank you must go to our amazing families who donated goods and services for the auction. Your generosity makes a substantial difference in the life and education of a girl who would otherwise be unable to attend a school like Wilderness.

I would like to congratulate Foundation Chair, Dr Sarah Matthews, our Events Committee and Head of Advancement, Mrs Rebecca Foster, for all the work that went into organising the event, Mrs Joanna Tropeano, who was a brilliant emcee, Jack Dowling for hosting the lively auction and the Wilderness Old Scholars’ Jazz Choir for their musical entertainment.

As a community, we have also worked together to make it halfway through Term 4.

Our School has been a hive of activity since the beginning of the term, from the 2021 Valedictory Dinner and Leavers’ Day celebrations to the Year 11 production of ‘Little Fish’ last week in the Newman Theatre.

I would like to wish our Year 12 girls all the best of luck for their final SACE examinations, which also commenced at the start of the week.

We feel very fortunate to hold our rescheduled Junior School Sports Day at the Parklands today. Wilderness School staff worked tirelessly to accommodate the changes after the weather affected the event plans last week and we thank them for their outstanding effort.

Today has been filled with positive House spirit, and warm rays of sunshine as the girls compete in their track and field events.

Looking ahead, the Junior School has a busy schedule with camps for our Year 3 and Year 5 girls over the coming weeks. We also have the exciting Wildy Fringe line-up next week, which gives our Wilderness community a chance to celebrate the Creative Arts and the fantastic opportunities the department affords to our girls.

I look forward to a busy final four weeks of the School year and the chance to celebrate our upcoming end-of-year events together in Week 8. Further information regarding these events will be provided to families in the coming days.