Student Wellbeing

Walmsley Village visits

All students in Senior School will have the opportunity to visit Walmsley Village this year. A small group of Senior students attended Walmsley Village on Thursday afternoon. They thoroughly enjoyed the experiene of playing board games and chatting to the residents of Walmsley Village.

The walk back to school was a buzz of excitement as the students reflected on this fantastic opportunity that strengthens our connections with our local community.

Here are some comments from students as we walked back to school........

'The people there are very nice.'  

Sam

'I never wanted to leave. They are so kind and caring'

Alyssa 

'Walmsley Village is the most calm and relaxed place that you will find. The company you get is absolutely phenomenal!' Connor

'They are friendly and I wish I could go back there again.' Lacey

Kate Thomson

Head of Wellbeing

Chaplain's Chat

My husband and I just spent a lovely weekend in Marysville with a group of friends; it was the first time we had been back since we visited shortly after the fires went through eight years ago.  We had spent time in Marysville when younger, enjoying walking through the beautiful bush and visiting places like Steavenson’s Falls.

Marysville had a long history of offering solace for stressed city dwellers who sort the peace and tranquillity of its scenery and wildlife and its architecture reflected the era in which it became popular.

Very soon after the devastation of the fires one of my sons, in his role as a Defence Force reservist, was required to attend, he was dressed in an all in one protective suit as a response to the large amount of asbestos that had been used in the building boom there in the 1930s. He told us that as he moved through the area it was like a post-apocalyptic scene, it was something he could not have imagined.

Eight years on the predominant color is green, and it was really beautiful with the sunlight dancing through the leaves, many of the buildings have been rebuilt but with a 21st century design focus, between the contemporary buildings though are vacant spaces where something once stood but which remains empty, a reminder that once there were more places bustling with human activity.

Whilst there is much to acknowledge as rebirth, the scars of the devastation remain and in a strange way enhance the beauty of the present; an honouring of the past in memorials, exhibitions and art work are just a part of the fabric of the community whilst the scared trees and landscape are ever present.  Standing in the gullies with the heat of the sun on your back you can almost hear the echo of the roar of the fire that is and will continue to be present in that space.

Whilst there I found myself reflecting on the similarities between this experience and other devastating life experiences; serious illness, relationship breakdowns, disability, unemployment, homelessness, confronting diagnoses and loss.  All these events leave scars on us, not necessarily visible but present and very real, yet with time there is the hope of renewal and a new start.  It will not look the same as the old, we may find ourselves reflecting on lost dreams, and the scars will remain yet through some serendipity those scars will enhance the present with a deeper more abiding beauty.

May you find the courage to rise from the ashes of your devastation, the strength to sustain the distance and the eyes to see and appreciate the scars you inevitably carry.

Gill Van Der Ende

Chaplain