Middle School Reflection
As begin term 3, I’ve been reflecting on some profound shifts I’ve observed in our students in Years 7-9 as we navigate these critical middle years. For our Year 7s, their first semester at high school has been a whirlwind of new routines and challenges, but it has also been a testament to their courage in embracing unfamiliarity. Our Year 9s, now poised at the edge of their final middle school semester, are beginning to feel the weight of what’s ahead: their transition into Senior School. It’s also a pivotal time for our Year 8s, who are quietly but surely building the resilience they’ll need in the year ahead. And as I watch all these groups find their footing, one theme has risen to the surface: the quiet power of sitting with discomfort.
In conversations with students, we’ve seen how attendance, while not about the pressure of a 100% record, becomes a symbol for stamina. It’s about routine and staying present even when the work feels heavy or the deadlines loom. There’s a quiet strength in showing up, day after day, especially when you don’t feel like it. And I want to be clear: these routines don’t exclude or diminish neurodivergent students; in fact, they can be vital supports. When we structure our days, we give all students, neurodivergent and neurotypical alike, predictability. We give them a foundation to lean on, and we equip them with strategies that help them navigate moments of uncertainty.
This idea was so powerfully embodied when I visited the School for Student Leadership in Marlo this term. I am so proud to have sent Khai Nguyen, Alex Hobbs, Gracie Muldoon, Anika Dowdy & Hazel Joliffe-Wilczek to represent our school for this program. They took full advantage of this opportunity and have come away with a fantastic reflection on their learning and what they’ve discovered about themselves. Our 2026 student team have been asked, time and again, to lean into discomfort. They can’t run away from expectations or new experiences; they meet them, and in doing so, they discover resilience, resourcefulness, and a clearer sense of self. And I saw, firsthand, that our students were thriving because they had a scaffold of routine, self-reflection, and trust in their ability to explore how things felt when they stepped outside of their comfort zone.
While school is based around our subject-based learning areas, it is also important to remember that our high school years are formative in giving ourselves the opportunity to develop resilience, emotional management, empathy and an understanding of the kind of person we want to be. Getting good grades on a maths test or being a lead in a Drama production teach us valuable things, but persevering through something difficult and trying something new, outside of classes, is equally as valuable.
At Princes Hill, we pride ourselves on providing opportunities for students to develop a sense of self. Whether that is through our extensive extracurricular programs, our camps or even our lunchtime programs. I challenge all our Middle School students to try something new, outside of class, before the end of the year and see how it feels to step outside of your comfort zone.
Next term, we have the following Middle School opportunities to do so:
- Year 9 GROW Week: Monday July 13th - Friday July 17th
- Year 8 Ski Camps: Monday August 3rd - Thursday August 6th and Monday August 10th - Thursday August 13th
- Our Semester 2 elective rotations
- Music and Performing Arts opportunities
- Interschool sport
- 2027 School for Student Leadership Interviews for current Year 8’s
As we head into next term, I hope we can all take a inspiration from the student visit to the School for Student Leadership: to stay present, to embrace the discomfort, and to trust that even in moments of uncertainty, we have the capacity to grow beyond what we thought possible. In doing this, we honour every learner’s potential. no matter how their mind works.
