From the Principal 

Changes to the Newsletter

We are wanting to change the way that families engage with our Newsletter. We want to provide you with information about the learning that is happening, while it is happening. 

This change amounts to an invitation of sorts, an invitation to feel connected to your child's learning, and to the incredible creative units of work that our teachers design.  

We hope these changes encourage conversation, questions and deep thinking for families in support of their MYP and DP students.

Scholarships - creativity and innovation at play

Stepping into the role of Principal has been an exhilarating and affirming experience. We have an incredible school and it is an honour to be ‘in the big chair' for this semester. Of particular joy has been the process of meeting applicants for our Year 7, 2022 Creativity and Innovation Scholarships. 

While many schools offer scholarships based on measurable achievements such as musical ability, sporting prowess and academic excellence, at Preshil we take a broader and slightly less quantifiable approach, one which is perfectly aligned with the principles of the International Baccalaureate and our long-standing traditions. We are seeking students who are well-rounded, who see creativity as the centre of their learning, in whatever areas that may be, and importantly who value the process and not the product. 

I spent time talking with these young applicants about how they viewed themselves as learners, sometimes prompted by the IB Learner Profile, and sometimes by the creative pieces they shared. Many of them were able to articulate their creative process, the wonderful new visions that come from making and embracing mistakes, and the way this process helps them to understand how best they learn in the classroom.

These young creatives also demonstrated why Preshil would meet their learning needs. They shared thoughtful, considered views of our School, and overwhelmingly they stated that Preshil was somewhere they felt they could be themselves, be a part of a kind community, and be creative. 

In an article in The Good Schools Guide last Saturday, on the theme Creating Life Long Learners, I spoke about how the aspirational elements of the IB support our students to see themselves as activists and agents for real change. And here again, some of these scholarship applicants had driven real change in their current schools, demonstrating their capacity to live as active citizens. Some could identify ways in which they might bring this action to Preshil. 

How wonderful it was meeting young people who identified as artists; film makers, painters, musicians and songwriters, performers and orators. There are many measures, quantifiable or not, of a thriving school. I believe that these students might just be one of those.

Cressida Batterham-Wilson

 Interim Principal 

cressida.batterham-wilson@preshil.vic.edu.au