From the Principal

 

Safe at school

Our Valedictory evening, which was held at Arlington last week, is a deeply significant moment in the Preshil calendar. Significant in many different ways, but particularly as an authentic coming together of different elements across the Preshil community; the children and their teachers from the Primary School, the Year 12 students, their teachers, both past and present and their parents, together with the School Council come together to honour and celebrate these young adults as they finish their formal schooling and move to the next stage of their lives.

From our teachers’ perspective this is a moment of public acknowledgement for all their efforts. It is a joy for me to hear the appreciation, respect and affection our students have for their teachers, who put their hearts and souls into igniting the spark that will light up understanding and passion for their subjects for each different individual. The relationships between students and teachers are the strongest theme of the evening.

Some students in our Year 12 class have been at Preshil for 15 years since three-year-old Kinder, for others their time at Preshil has been much shorter. Their teachers have accompanied each one of them along the way through variations of childhood and adolescence to see before them a group of polished young women and men, confident in their own agency and willing to stand up and reflect on their experience of school.

Some of our students have come to Preshil from earlier experiences that threatened to crush their spirits and confidence, so these stories throw into sharp relief the acceptance, encouragement and celebration of difference they speak of as defining their time at Preshil and shaping their futures.

Some speeches are very funny; some are especially emotional and moving. What stands out for me is that every one of these students knows they are safe in this environment and they speak from a deep sense of security. They speak from their hearts and are not afraid to expose themselves to the gaze of their peers and their teachers, safe from judgement, from comparison. They are known, accepted and loved for who they are and this deep conviction will not be ruffled by the superficial assessment of their worth offered by an ATAR ranking or set-back in achieving their goals.

This is a moment to treasure as there is no greater goal for us, as educators, than to know that every child, adolescent and young adult feels truly safe and is able to flourish as the person they know themselves to be.

We don’t always achieve this goal; as adults and as a school we can always do better – but at our Valedictory Dinner on Friday night this goal was fulfilled and I, too, want to publicly acknowledge our exceptional staff, teachers and support staff, who are so deserving of the appreciation shown them.  

New appointment

It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of Jen Buchanan to the acting role of Head of Campus for Blackhall Kalimna, from the beginning of 2019. Jen joined our staff in Term Three this year and has already established herself as a leading, innovative teacher with a very rich set of educational experiences to share at Preshil, allowing her to step naturally into a mentorship role for other staff and students.

I am looking forward to introducing Jen to the Preshil community and there will be many opportunities to do so during the remainder of the year. Jen has written a short piece to introduce herself further on in this edition of the newsletter.

In 2019 our Assistant Principal, Natalie Jensen, will take on the Head of Campus role at Arlington, as well as remain the whole school IB Educator and leader, building the IB continuum of the PYP, MYP and the DP across both our campuses.

2019 is shaping up to be a great year and I will be able to share our plans over the next few weeks.

Marilyn Smith

Principal

marilyn.smith@preshil.vic.edu.au