Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Friends,

It’s already Week 2 in our final term of 2023. I’ve encouraged students to review goals, reset determination and improve their effort. In seven weeks, the academic year will all be over – it’s important to maximize the time available and ensure that they complete the year to the best of their ability.

At the assembly this week we celebrated Adventure – one of the Round Square pillars.  As the principal of St Philip’s, I’m very proud of the many opportunities we provide in this area. All students have had a chance for an Outdoor Education experience this year.  Many other adventures were also on offer including, an Art Trip, a Buddy Festival, Polly Farmer and IYLP trips, a FLECS trip to Ti Tree, the Rainforest and Reef Trip, a national or international school exchange, an International Conference to Kenya and an upcoming trip to New Zealand and an International Service Project to Thailand at the end of the year.

My recent adventure included a trip to Nairobi, Kenya for an International Round Square conference with colleague Alex Pollitt and students Denny Kean and Dooriya Zeng, Lydia Budrikis, Ramona Dooley and Maral-Od Odsuren.  St Philip’s was part of 150 other schools and 1200 delegates from around the globe. Our pre-conference was at Starehe Boys’ School where we were inducted into the Round Square organization in 1996. The culture and purpose of Starehe continues to be inspirational.

Our adventure included a visit to the Elephant Orphanage, the Giraffe Centre and Nairobi National Park where we spent the night glamping in the middle of the park. Most importantly however, we had to expand our comfort zone. The three flights and more than 30 hours of traveling was challenging, together with the lack of phone network and dodgy Wi-Fi which disconnected us from our family and friends for long periods of time. We had to keep our minds open and often our opinions were adjusted as we interacted with others who came from different life experiences and cultures.

Life is an adventure – I encourage everyone to take advantage of new experiences – they may be daunting, uncomfortable or even eye opening. Whatever they are, an adventure gives people the chance to grow and develop new skills, attain more informed perspectives which results in a better understanding of the complex world we live in. An adventure is a challenge – I will continue to encourage students and staff to expand their horizons and become global citizens and leaders.

Kind regards,

~ Leslie Tilbrook

Principal