Presentation Evening

Principal's address

Good evening and welcome to the families, friends, teachers, members of our school council, Parents & Friends' Association, our special guest Ms Shanthi Pillai and Kristine Sohn, Dux of 2017.  Your presence here tonight is much appreciated.

We are here to give our full attention to the students of Mentone Girls’ Secondary College who, through courage, work and endeavour will be receiving awards here tonight. 

Tonight each student will receive a tangible recognition of their achievement and endeavour from their teachers in the form of an award but this attainment will most likely be one of many they will receive over their lifetime. As those of us who have been around for some time will know, the journey has only just begun.  Tonight we acknowledge positive attributes such as perseverance, insight, talent and passion. 

As parents, relatives and friends you have seen the evolution of these qualities in our awardees over many years.  As educators we are here tonight to say that we recognise these attributes too.

When we are born, we were not gifted with a treasure map that will deliver us to our one-true calling.  Instead there will be multiple buried treasures waiting to be discovered along the way and you will make conscious choices as to which path to take and where to dig for that treasure. 

Let’s take a look at a few trail blazers that just happen to be inspiring women who, through courage and work, challenged themselves to be more than their circumstances would have predicted.   

There is the famous fashion designer Coco Chanel who lived from 1883 to 1971, long before social media could influence fashion trends.  She came from humble beginnings and was a daughter of a laundrywoman and a market stall holder. Before becoming one of the greatest fashion designers the world has ever seen, she was a club singer and a hat maker.

Looking at the political arena there is Angela Merkel who was appointed as the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005 and is currently presiding over the most powerful European economy. Born in 1954, she was a former research scientist and holds a doctorate in physical chemistry.  It wasn’t until the she was in her 30s that she became interested in politics and she was elected to parliament in her 40s.

And finally, there is J.K. Rowling who could not have foreseen that she would break through the trap of poverty until she finished writing her first book for the Harry Potter series, which has now sold 400 million copies worldwide. She went on from living on state benefits in the UK to becoming a multi-millionaire after her book's success in a matter of five years.

What all of these women have in common is that they have reinvented themselves many times.  They were not afraid of failure and I am confident that they followed their passions and talents.  Call it problem-solving or pioneering spirit, they have each been fearless in breaking with tradition.  They would have been inspired by others before them too – as we can only take steps into the unknown if someone has done the ground work.

To everyone receiving an award here tonight, this is your ground work.  Keep striving for your personal best and don’t be content with the average when you know you can be the exceptional.  We look forward to seeing you embrace the opportunities that will come your way. Congratulations to you all and enjoy the evening.

Kind regards

Ms Linda Brown 

Council President's address

Good Evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Mentone Girls’ Secondary College’s Presentation Evening for 2018.

Tonight gives us opportunity to celebrate the academic achievements of students in Years 7 to 11 but also encourages the 2019 student cohort to aspire to strive for their  'personal best' and also to support their peers.

Unlike in previous years, this year we celebrated the outstanding achievements of our Year 12 students at the Valedictory Dinner at the Bayview Eden just over a month ago. As a father of one of the girls about to finish her secondary education, the dinner was a wonderful occasion, allowing us all to nostalgically look back on our daughters’ years at Mentone Girls’ and most importantly wish them all the best of luck and fortune for the future.

I know that the wonderful experiences that they’ve had and the knowledge that they’ve gained at the school will equip them well in their future endeavours, whatever that may be or wherever it may take them. They just need to remember the school’s motto “through courage and work” as they head out to face the new challenges ahead of them and hopefully achieve successful futures.

Currently in my second year as School Council President, I can tell you all that it’s been a very busy and productive year. Our principal, Ms Linda Brown, has been at the school now for just over two year and has pushed through many significant and much needed changes, all of which have benefited the entire school community.

Linda is an enthusiastic and passionate leader of our school and an ardent advocate on the education of young women. I, and the rest of members of the School Council, very much look forward to working closely with Linda in the years ahead. Thank you Linda.

We have also been very busy campaigning all the way up to the recent State election to have Mentone Girls’ recognised as a school requiring major upgrades to its buildings and facilities. We have not received any government funding for capital works in well over a decade and as the only government girls’ school in the south-eastern suburbs, Mentone Girls’ plays a very important role in the education of young women and is entitled to an equitable share fair of government funding.

However, despite the many hastily arranged meetings and ongoing communications explaining the reasons for our funding needs, unfortunately we were unable to get a commitment from both sides of the political divide for a large capital injection to fund the first stage of our Future Master Plan to upgrade the majority of the school’s facilities.

Despite the setback it was decided to invest $1.9m of school raised funds, which have been saved over many years, for the redevelopment of the Technology and Arts building to create an innovative STEAM Centre, which will begin in in 2019. This new building will be a state of the art facility for the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths subjects.

The school is passionate about giving as many girls as possible access to STEAM subjects as it’s an area very much under-represented by women in today’s workforce. As a girls’ school we feel it’s imperative to address this issue urgently as it can no longer wait for our politicians to act.

There is still much more that we need to do but we require both the School Council and the entire school community to come together and be proactive in voicing the needs of our school.

I’d like to thank a number of people who helped me out over the course of 2018. Thanks to my fellow school councillors, particularly Rachael Angus, the Vice President, for all of their support and encouragement during a very busy year on council.

Also a very big thanks to both of the Assistant Principals, Ms Bronwyn Moline, and Ms Carol Duggan. They have both been a great support for Linda, the entire School Council and most importantly the wider school community. Thank you Bronwyn and Carol for the care and passion you bring every day to Mentone Girls’.

I’d also like to thank all of the teaching, support and administration staff for their on-going commitment to our school. Your role in educating, supporting and inspiring our daughters to reach their full potential cannot be underestimated.

To all the parents who get involved with the school and volunteer, thank you. Your gift of time and commitment makes the school community a vibrant and stronger one and I encourage as many parents as possible to participate.

Again, congratulations to all of the students who are receiving academic rewards tonight and to the girls who have been selected to be part of the leadership team at Mentone Girls’ in 2019. I wish you a wonderful and exciting year ahead.

Finally, as I did in my speech at last years’ Presentation Evening, I would like to leave you with some words of wisdom, this time from a great orator and an inspirational man, Barack Obama, on working towards gender equality.

At a graduation ceremony in 2012  of an all-female class of Barnard College he said the following: "My first piece of advice is this. Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet: fight for a seat at the head of the table."

Thank you and enjoy the rest of the evening.

James Malliaros

Council President