Principal's Message

Dear parents, families & guardians

International Women’s Day: Celebrating the purple, green and white

The College has recently celebrated a very special day in our school calendar. This is the day that our students get to share the spotlight with all the girls and women around the world in commemorating International Women’s Day.

This year the United Nations are encouraging us to reflect on the progress that ordinary women have made over the last 100 years. In 2019, the United Nations' theme for International Women’s Day is "Think Equal. Build Smart. Innovate for Change". These are powerful and inspiring words for us all to ponder.

We may think that the struggle for equality is in the past but there is still more to be done to improve the lives of girls and women around the globe. The goal is that one day, hopefully not too far in the future, that every girl and woman will have the same rights to safety, education and work opportunities as men do all over the globe.

We often read stories in glossy magazines featuring ‘inspiring’, ‘brilliant’ and often glamorous women who appear to have it all. But if you look beyond the airbrushed photographs you will find that there is often adversity, self-doubt, determination and grit sitting behind their accomplishments.

The road to equality is paved with the efforts and sacrifices of bold and visionary women who lead ordinary lives until they championed this cause. These women spoke out about discrimination based on their sex. Change happens because a significant number of the general population see that the current situation is untenable or discriminatory.

It is easy to forget that International Women’s Day first arose out of the very unglamorous and sometimes dangerous fight for the rights of ordinary women all around the world.

The first International Women’s Day was observed on March 1911 when more than one million women and men attended rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland to demand the right to vote and hold public office, the right to work and receive an education and an end to discrimination against women.

You may find it interesting to know that by this time, women in New Zealand had already had the vote for 17 years and women in Australia had had it for eight years. Good on New Zealand and Australia!

So – what are the colours of International Women’s Day?

Purple to represent dignity and self-respect.
Green to represent hope and new life.
And white to represented purity in public and private life.

Together, the colours of purple, green and white have come to represent sisterhood and solidarity and are used to symbolise International Women’s Year in Australia.

On this day we should all pause to remember that there was a struggle and that courageous women stood firm in their beliefs so that we could have the rights that we have today. The journey isn’t over yet. Students from Mentone Girls’ Secondary College are changing the perception of what girls and women are capable of every day.

To this I add congratulations and welcome to Mia Evans (Year 10) who was this week elected by her peers as their representative on the College Council. She joins Sinead Garry (Year 10) who was elected for a two year term in 2018. My thanks to Nazy Jalali (Year 11) for her service on the Council over 12 months. The College Council membership is complete. I welcome all the members and look forward to working with them in 2019.

Kind regards

Linda Brown

IWD Podcast

MGSC Podcasts produced by Off Air Media will continue in 2019. The first of the year focusses on IWD and girls' leadership, with insightful reflections from our school leaders. Use these links to hear all the news:

Whooshkaa Link: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=344696

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/mentone-girls-secondary-college-podcast/id1431635601?mt=2

IWD, footy, international students and MGSC

A winning combination

MGSC Australian Rules team members and our international students together with Melbourne Football Club past and present players have featured in a video promoting our national sport and local obsession. It was posted on IWD by the DET international student program and shared at https://www.facebook.com/MentoneGirlsSecondaryCollege/