Year 10 cohort values

Monash Scholars Program

The Monash Scholars Program is an application-based scholarship that provides selected high achieving students with the opportunity to engage with Monash University, attending events with students from other schools and, eventually, providing priority places at Monash once the students finish Year 12. We are very proud that three of our Year 10s – Georgia K, Lydia B and Alice CF – are our Monash Scholars this year. During the application process, the students defined their approach to learning, their hopes for the future and what activities they undertake to affect positive change. Congratulations to Georgia, Lydia and Alice.

Class of 2023 values

During the lockdown periods, it often feels easier to simply withdraw from social lives and spend longer periods alone, which makes the transition back into the busy vibrancy of school life increasingly challenging. To help foster an environment of warmth and welcome, the Year 10s created a long list of cohort-specific values, inspired by those already embraced by the whole Shelford community, which we will work to refine and define as the year continues.

Living by a series of values has many benefits, including building friendships with other students that have a strong base of understanding and acceptance. Similarly, in a value-aligned cohort, students recognise their learning areas are safe, therefore they will be more willing to advocate for one another, work in teams effectively and value one another’s opinions. 

Our Year 10s are socially minded and the connections they have built are rich, which enabled a wonderful atmosphere in the room as they discussed, politely challenged and emphatically agreed with one another as to what makes their cohort special.

The long list of values was as follows: kindness, endurance, authenticity, connection, community, acceptance, trust, balance and wonder.

During Wellbeing in the coming weeks, I will be encouraging the girls to consider with which of these values they most closely align, and by the end of the year we will be able to publish the short-list which the class of 2023 will endeavour to live by.

Other activities undertaken by the Year 10 group include the Maxme program, organised by Ms Cath Freney, Careers and Future Pathways Coordinator, which aims to equip the students with the critical human skills they need to realise their career potential and thrive. This is complementary to the remote work experience which the students undertook at the end of last term.

The Year 10s are encouraged to keep checking in with one another, create study groups and chats across social media platforms, including playlists on Spotify which will get them dancing and moving. 

Julia Lloyd Bruin

Year 10 Coordinator