Message from the

Director of Boarding

Boarding Term 3, Week 3

As we enter Term 3, the school year is well underway and the half way point has been passed at a roaring speed. School life never slows down and our boarders continue to impress in all that they do and achieve. Student Leadership took centre stage recently when the School Prefects were announced for 2018-19. Emer Spora (Loader) and Stirling Taylor (Wolaroi) were chosen to represent Kinross Wolaroi as the Head Girl and Head Boy Prefects. This is an outstanding achievement for both Emer and Stirling, testament to their character and the high regard in which they are held by staff and their peers. I would also like to congratulate Jorja Griffiths (New) for being chosen as Deputy Head Girl and Mabel Brockmann (Loader) and Charlotte Haling (New) for their elevation to Prefect of Mission and Charity respectively. It is a credit to these individuals and also to the KWS boarding community that we are so well represented in the Prefect group. I am certain that our Prefects will be successful in their roles over the next 12 months. Presently, I am in the process of selecting the next Boarding Prefects (one boy and one girl) to represent Boarding within the Prefect group. I have had some outstanding applications so far and will interview each of the applicants to select our next Boarding Prefects for the beginning of next week.

The highlight of the first week back was the performance of High School Musical. I have seen many productions in my time (although it has to be said I am far from being an expert in the field!) and this has to go down as one of the more thrilling I have seen. The slick choreography, the seamless transitions, the quality of the acting and vocals on stage, were all simply outstanding. I was delighted to see so many of our boarders involved in the production; either centre stage or with the accompaniment, or back stage. Special mentions must go to Fletcher Bolte, Bonnie Vance, Lucy Kirk, Sam Durkin, Julia Williams, Edwina Reilly, Chelsea Edwards, Lucy Dedman, Polly Napier, Ellie Crawford, Laura Cockerill, Hannah Richardson, Molly Nelson, Angel Byrne and Anna Westcott for their contributions to an outstanding piece of performance theatre.

Whilst on the topic of the arts, I would like to pay tribute to the professional quality on display at the Visual Arts and Textiles Exhibition which took place last Friday evening in the DPA. Once again, the boarders were well represented with a wide array of stunning art and fashion in evidence. Caitlin Stubberfield, Kate Alderman, Anna Ponder, Jade Lefebvre, Isabel Lamph, Lachie Herbert, Georgia Porteous, Maggie Jean Smith, Lizzy Watt, Kate Payne and Sophie Southwell should be very proud of their effort, talent and hard work.

The House Dinner season is well underway with a great turnout for the Loader Dinner last Saturday night. The leadership displayed by the Year 11 Loader girls was outstanding and a class above. It was an eventful evening with great speeches, an engaging slide show, delicious food, great company and interesting conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Year 11 girls pay tribute to their Year 12 bigger sisters as they closed in on the end of their time as boarders. The comments made and the stories shared were all evidence that our boarders look out for each other and value the journey they have shared together. For me personally, it was my first House Dinner and it will be hard to top. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet new parents and catch up with familiar faces. I was particularly thankful to catch up with parents that are facing difficult times on the land in drought-affected areas that still found time to come to Orange to share in the celebrations.

For those that are experiencing difficult times, rest assured that we here at Kinross Wolaroi have you foremost in our thoughts and prayers. Our senior boarders, in particular, are currently putting their heads together to look at opportunities to fundraise and by the time of our next newsletter, we hope to have something more concrete in place.

Matt Curran

Director of Boarding