The Arrow

From the Acting Principal

Kristie Satilmis

DARE Assemblies

It has been fantastic to be able to hold our year level DARE assemblies face to face in the Lecture Theatre this past week.  During the assemblies, I invited students to reflect on their progress this semester both academically and personally, as they have navigated their own particular journey and personal challenges of lockdowns and remote learning.  As the saying goes, it’s been the same storm but each of us in a different boat.

 

Throughout all the uncertainties of the last 18 months, one real constant has been our sense of community and the importance of the part we each play as individuals within the communities we are a part of.  The DARE Awards really are a lovely way to highlight that the way individual students enact our school DARE values and Auburn Learner Qualities each day collectively results in the strong and supportive community culture we enjoy here at AHS.

 

I commend our students on the resilience and optimism they have demonstrated this year, as we have navigated the ins and outs of Covid restrictions and the unavoidable disruptions caused by our building project.  I am confident that they will continue to focus on their personal learning goals and aspirations in Semester 2 with the support and encouragement of their teachers and families.

 

Building project update

We are around 185 days into our Stage 1 building project now, and have another 50 or so days to go.  The building team have made remarkable progress in that time, including:

  • Removing our old heating system (circa 1974)
  • Demolition and removal of existing roof surface
  • Installation of new waterproof membrane, drainage and roof surface – the finishing touch will be a final layer featuring our school logo visible from Google Earth!
  • Construction of 6 additional classroom spaces
  • Refurbishment of lecture theatre and stairwells

Next steps include installing our new heating and cooling system, reinstating ceiling finishes and repainting of affected areas.  We will then turn our attention to the next stage of works, our $10.13M project due to commence in December/January.  This will include replacement of windows in the main building which will support greater efficiency of our new heating and cooling system.  More exciting than that, we will begin construction of our new Senior School building on the corner of Burgess Street and Auburn Road.  I look forward to sharing detailed designs with the community next term, but some preliminary concept renders are below.

 

 

Principal team structure for Term 3

I have enjoyed my time as Acting Principal this term and would like to thank the Leadership Team and School Council for their support throughout.  Ross Pritchard will step into the Acting Principal role for Term 3 and Dannielle Gibson will move from the Acting Assistant Principal Year 7-9 portfolio to that of Year 10-12 during that time.  Thank you to Danni for her great work in the 7-9 portfolio this term.  We all look forward to welcoming Maria Karvouni back from leave in Term 4.