Head of Campus Update – 12 May 2016

There has been much excitement in Senior School now that the Summit and Mindfulness room spaces have been completed. The Summit Room provides a beautiful new learning space for our Summit students – students identified for their academic giftedness or talents, who are withdrawn from mainstream classes to work on extension or acceleration activities.

The Mindfulness Room now provides the perfect space for students and staff to practice their mindfulness. It was christened last week by Year 11 students who participated in a yoga session as part of their Futures program. The Mindfulness Room provides the perfect venue for students and staff to practice mindfulness, gratitude and empathy – the three pillars of the Resilience Project.

St Margaret’s Senior School is again hosting the Debating Association Victoria (DAV) debates for our region. Last Thursday was Round 3 of the debating season. St Margaret’s School had 7 losses and 5 wins with Zali Annesley, Zoja Kovacs, Sungkavi Achuthananthan and Eloise Smith being named best speakers. Congratulations to Sungkavi who generously (and nervously) offered to fill in by debating in a higher grade team – and then won best speaker! Great work Sungkavi.

Last Friday we farewelled Mrs Mary Clare Terrill who is preparing for the birth of her second child. We wish Mary Clare all the best with the impending new arrival and look forward to meeting her new baby. We are thrilled that Mrs Janine Fatouros has been able to return from her maternity leave a few weeks before she was due back to take on Mrs Terrill’s classes. This has provided a smooth transition for our students and they will all benefit from the teaching of these outstanding teachers.

This term we welcomed our 2016 New Zealand exchange students. Georgia Mackay and Samantha Capon joined us from St Margaret’s College, Christchurch and they were hosted by Alan Geremia and Phoebe Sinclair. Millie Wilcox came from Queen Margaret College, Wellington and she was welcomed by her host Emily Kelly. The excitement is now mounting as our students look forward to visiting New Zealand in their reciprocal visits.

Last week was a busy week in Senior School. The Year 7 students spent the week in Gembrook tackling a range of outdoor activities together. With some major storms threatening to blow their tents away, the girls demonstrated fantastic resilience and sense of humour. They bonded together due to the adversity of the weather conditions and have returned to school with lots of new friends and wonderful stories to share.

The Year 8 students explored the Great Ocean Road over 3 days and managed to miss the worst of the stormy weather. None-the-less, they were witness to some amazing waves crashing through Loch Ard Gorge and along the Great Ocean Road coastline. They had a unique and wonderful trip, gathering plenty of valuable data to be used in their science and geography classes.

The Year 10 students showed their ability to move seamlessly into the workplace during their week of work experience. Many grateful employees have commended the students for their initiative, reliability and strong work ethic.

And finally, the Year 11 and 12 students had a wonderful evening at their Senior School Formal. Congratulations to Ashlee Cavey-Hodgson and the Formal Organisation Committee for their amazing work. The evening went very smoothly and the students looked amazing.

Mrs Fiona Williams
Head of St Margaret’s Senior School