Grammar News

Principal's news

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Parents

 

The news which has resonated around the world and has stopped many nations, particularly Commonwealth nations, is the news of the passing of the longest reigning Monarch in history, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. At Oakleigh Grammar, we have conveyed our condolences to members of the Royal Family through our social media, tv screens within our School, and will maintain our flags at half mast until the conclusion of Her Majesty’s funeral. As you are aware, the Prime Minister has declared a Public Holiday in Australia on Thursday 22 September 2022. As a consequence, our school will be closed during the term break on 22 and 23 September which is a Victorian declared Grand Final Public Holiday.  

 

Irrespective of perspectives on the Monarchy, our respect for Queen Elizabeth II is at the highest level, bearing in mind she is a mother, and grandmother and performed an exemplary level of commitment to service and duty to all Commonwealth countries, including Australia.

 

I am delighted to advise that our school has received a five-year ‘Lighthouse’ re-certification, which is the highest level of certification worldwide for the ‘Leader In Me’ (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People). The highlights of this robust and thorough certification process include:

  • Oakleigh Grammar’s commitment to using the 7 Habits to help staff and students in dealing with the challenges of the pandemic;
  • Rather than compromising the leadership development of our students during the lockdown, we tried to reimagine how to do it better based on the circumstance;
  • Oakleigh Grammar sought opportunities to serve as mentors to other Leader in Me Schools;
  • Oakleigh Grammar used Leader in Me as an opportunity for continuous improvement;
  • Alignment of the Leader in Me initiatives to our Strategic Plan.

My gratitude extends to our Junior School leadership, including Mrs Shelley Parkes, Mrs Sarah Caffrey and Ms Ashlee Scott and all Junior School staff for their commitment and dedication to this outstanding character development program.  

 

Term three has been an extremely productive term throughout our whole school, and reflective of our 2022 School Theme ‘Success Is Ours To Achieve’. 

 

By and large, our Year 12 students have completed their courses of study and will be focussing on consolidation and exam preparation during the term break and in the lead-up to their VCE Examinations. Great success has been noted on the sports field with our school being declared “Primary School State Champions’ in soccer as well as our EISM Middle School Futsal team being declared champions. Our debating program is thriving with outstanding results for a school our size, and our inter-house debating competition was heralded by all students and staff who took part.

 

We were thrilled with the successful running of our Business Breakfast which returned to Oakleigh Grammar following a three-year pandemic-led hiatus. We were delighted to welcome Ms Sally Bateman, CEO of Make-A-Wish Australia and Mr Charlie McLeish, Managing Director of Pental Australia as our guest speakers as we raised much-needed funds to upgrade the AV technology in our gymnasium to enhance our Assemblies. At our Business Breakfast, we made a special announcement which was the generous sponsorship for naming rights for our new Centre for Academic Excellence. Our indebted gratitude is extended to the Nikolakakis Family for this sponsorship in memory of their beloved parents Mr Nick and Mrs Poly Nikolakakis – long-standing supporters and members of our community. It was wonderful to be able to welcome our community once again to a celebratory occasion.

 

We were delighted that our Year 11 students were able to attend their Formal on Friday night in our School Conference Centre, in a further indication of a return to normality at our School.

 

Staff News

Congratulations are extended to Ms Emily Sacco and her husband Michael Halley-Frame who were married over the weekend.

 

Mrs Sharron Frame, Head of Middle and Senior Schools will be leaving us at the end of the formal Examination period following fifteen years of outstanding leadership and service to our School. Mr Andrew Phillips commences his long service leave and will depart our school at the end of this year following six years of excellent contribution to our senior school in particular. Mrs Fiona Baudinette also concludes her tenure at Oakleigh Grammar at the end of this term following her contribution as an Arrowsmith Teacher and more recently as School Counsellor.  

 

New Appointments

I am pleased to advise of the following confirmed staff who will be joining us:

  • Mrs Susan Bassett, School Counsellor – commencing next term
  • Mr Sam Gray, Accounting / Humanities Teacher – commencing next term
  • Mr Silvio Stefan, Music Teacher – commencing in 2023
  • Peter Charalambous, Mathematics and Physics Teacher – commencing in 2023

I wish all students and their families a relaxing and safe term break and look forward to welcoming all students back on Tuesday 4 October.  

 

Mark Robertson

Principal