Principal's Report

One of the main reasons why we all want to be part of a community is that we all have a need to belong; to connect; and to work together to a achieve a shared goal. 

The power of a community is that it can pool its collective resources to look after each other; it can learn together from its mistakes; and it can use that learning in order to be better than yesterday. 

We talk to our students about high school being an opportunity to ‘find-your-tribe’: that there will always be people who share some of your interests that you can find a connection with. This is certainly true at Woodmans Hill and our size makes it that much easier to find our people. For us, as a school, the things that make us individuals are what make us the same: our differences are our super-power and, combined, they make us stronger together. 

I spoke at the start of the year to every student about my expectation that our school should be fully inclusive and accepting: that we should be a school where everyone feels that they can belong. That opportunity to connect extends to all of our families too. We know that you are 100% committed to achieving our goal to develop students into adults who are optimistic for their futures. 

I share that optimism for our students because I see- each and every day- the incredible things that they achieve. In the early days of being a principal here, I used to tell students that they were in competition with all of the students in the state and private schools in Ballarat and beyond: now I tell them that the other schools are in competition with them and that they are only in competition with themselves. How far we have come in the last four years is the yardstick for how much we can improve in the next four and this has to be the standard by which we set our expectations. This stage in each student’s pathway is incredibly important in terms of setting them on their way to an exciting future and each second of learning, both in and outside of the classroom, must be secured as we do not have time to waste in the pursuit of our dreams.

I reflect on the countless positive interactions that I have with students every day and know that respect is present in our school and a value that we need to expect at all times. 

I see the challenges that our students overcome and know that their determination drives their success.

I witness students learning from mistakes and responding to feedback and recognize our students’ pursuit of personal excellence is real. 

And I want and expect that of all our students.

To do that, we need to work as a community to meet the individual and collective needs of our students and stand together in insisting the highest standards with respect to our school values.

Increasing this sense of community is something that we have as one of our highest priorities this year. In many respects, 2023 feels like Year 1 of a new phase in the life of Woodmans Hill. If last year was the reset after the distances created by remote learning, this year is all about renewing our community and developing stronger bonds. 

I hope that you can see evidence in the adaptations we continue to make to our practice from the Year 7 conversations we have had at the start of the year with our families to learn more about the strengths and needs of each student, to the weekly celebrations of our successes, to the Senior School Information Evening, to the Welcome BBQ extended to all families new to our school… we want you all to feel a deeper connection with us and to know we are in this 100% with you; that we are committed to doing all we can to ensure your child experiences real success.

But we need your help…

We need to know what more you need in terns of support and how you want us to communicate with you. Staff will be reaching out to families in the coming weeks to listen to your voice and hear what you have to say, so that we work together to make our school community as strong as it can be.