From the Acting Principal

In the last edition of the eLink, Dr O’Rielly spoke of culture being built from connections and her joy at seeing some of our cultural signifiers return to the school. Events such as the House singing and House Dinners are important events where our staff and students can come together to celebrate different aspects of our school culture. Over the past two weeks, I have been fortunate to be able to move around to different Senior School classrooms, study rooms, corridors and playgrounds and speak with students about how they have found the return to school full time, what they are aspiring to and how they are reconnecting with friends. It has been particularly interesting speaking with the Year 9 and Year 12 students. 

Our Year 9 students have spent the first two years of Senior School in and out of lockdown. They have enjoyed having more face-to-face connections with friends, but many found the academic routines of the first term or so quite a challenge. They also found they had narrower connections within the student groups as they were more used to connecting with their friendship networks online. Their connections with their teachers were also very different to that experienced by previous generations of students. It is fair to say it has taken them longer to reconnect with school routines. 

This was a similar experience for our Year 12 students. They have spent their “VCE preparation years” learning online with most interactions occurring on screens. They had a slower start to the year as they redeveloped broader connections with each other and with their teachers. Study habits needed a bit more development early on than may have been the norm in previous years. But they have worked hard, and it has been very pleasing to see them hit their stride in the past few weeks as they prepare in earnest for VCE exams. The study rooms have been busy, and they have developed the connectedness with each other that we expect from our Year 12s. 

Reflecting on the experiences of the Year 12s for the past two years, it has been great to see the Class of 2022 able to celebrate the end of their formal high school years with milestone events that have not been possible during COVID-19. On Friday they will have a day of celebrations before beginning their independent study and VCE exam schedules. I will certainly miss the honest, earnest and optimistic conversations that I have had with them over the past fortnight while Dr O’Rielly has been on leave and wish them well in their studies and whatever their futures hold. 

For the rest of our student population, it will be business as usual as we work hard to rebuild and strengthen relationships with all of our students. In their article, “Repair the Fractures: Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Schools”, De La Garza, Holme, Jabbar and Trautmann point to the importance of schools investing in social capital. During the pandemic, there was a focus on purchasing protective equipment, technology and additional staffing. They assert that there now needs to be equal focus on rebuilding school culture and repairing relationships. This has very much been a focus for our staff and school leaders this year. As I said earlier, cultural events are returning, but this in itself is not enough. These events must be underpinned by positive social capital. 

Getting to know each student has been a priority. For the past fortnight, a highlight for me has been greeting the students each morning at the Wattle St gate as they arrive. It is a great way to start the day but also gives me the opportunity to connect with students that I may not have seen in a while, ask about their weekend, what they are studying and what they are reading. It is also a time when I can reinforce the uniform and grooming expectations where needed. The response from our students has been wonderful. They always comply respectfully to requests to tuck in shirts or tie back hair. Our students, in the main, want to be positively connected to their school and to each other. I look forward to continuing the journey back into post COVID-19 “normality” with them. 

Mr Donald Thompson

Acting Principal