Principal's News

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to Term Two.  I hope everyone had a restful Term One break ready for a busy term.

ANZAC Day 

Tomorrow (Thursday 25th April) is ANZAC Day - a public holiday.

ANZAC Day this year commemorates 109 years since the landing at Gallipoli and the significance of ANZAC Day continues to be strong. ANZAC Day is a public expression of gratitude and reflection that resonates to the present day.

ANZAC Day is a commemoration of significance not only because of the great sacrifices of World War 1, but also because as a result of World War 1 we have defined what we see as the character of modern Australia and the qualities that we see as important for us all as Australians - courage, bravery, endurance, determination, mateship and service.

We all need to have an understanding of the important events in our history that have helped to develop our nation and that impact our values and beliefs about ourselves. The Australian History Curriculum covered in Victorian schools is fundamental to developing this understanding in our young people. 

World War 1 was a defining period in Australia’s history. It was the first major conflict of the newly federated Australia and one of the most significant events of World War 1 was the landing at Gallipoli. 

ANZAC Day has come to represent so much more than the landing at Gallipoli, on this day we honour all the men and women who have participated in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world and take time to reflect on and appreciate their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their families. 

Friday last week Ben Parker and I acompanied our four school captains to the Shrine of Remembrance to join in the Victorian schools ANZAC service and today the staff and students held our own ceremony, which was run by our Year 6 Captains.  The reverence and respect with which our students carried themselves at both of these events is to be commended.  It is not easy for Primary School aged children to fully grasp the significance of such occassions but our students have certainly shown their amazing capacity.

ANZAC Day commemorative activities

ANZAC Day is a public holiday. You may wish to observe the day by joining in commemorative activities at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. These activities include the:

• dawn service
• commemoration march
• laying of wreaths
• commemoration service.

For more details, including about the dawn service, refer to the RSL Victoria website. The dawn service will be livestreamed on the Shrine of Remembrance website.

RSL Victoria sub-branches also host ANZAC Day commemorative services for everyone in their local area to attend. For a local ANZAC Day service near you, refer to the RSL Victoria website.

Robyn James