Principal's Update

During the Term 2 break, I was grateful to have the opportunity to travel to Adelaide to Australian Quakers’ Yearly Meeting - the first to be held in person since 2019 (though, like so many things, the event has now become a hybrid event, with many choosing to attend online). It was wonderful to meet so many Quakers and to hear of the varied and sometimes incredible projects that Quakers are deeply involved in across the country and the world. 

Quakers have always been inquirers and seekers, posing questions and adopting critical perspectives, and today, Quakers continue with these dispositions. At Yearly Meeting, the Backhouse Lecturer, Bioethicist, Jackie Leech-Scully, posed the questions, “What kind of society do we want?” and further, "Is this - what we are doing now, what we are planning on doing, the best way of getting there?"

These questions, and many others should, in a Quaker school, be ones that we ask often. To be seekers and inquirers in a Quaker school is a fundamental part of living our Purpose and Concerns.

At Yearly Meeting, I shared a presentation to those gathered online and in Adelaide about The Friends’ School, focussed mostly on the question, “What makes this a Quaker school?”, having had the privilege to be a part of this community since accepting the role in April last year. My observations include firstly, those tangible and measurable ways, and then some thoughts about the less tangible but nonetheless deep and significant ways.

I have observed that Quaker Values and Testimonies are deeply embedded in the daily life of the School and can be seen in a number of ways: through the visibility of Quaker values in the art works and artefacts that are seen throughout the School; in the dedicated focus on immersing students in those testimonies through the learning programs, in curriculum areas where decisions such as deciding on areas of focus, text study, will emphasise those core values. Quaker practices are embedded in the Early Years and Primary School through our engagement with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme and our emphasis on inquiry and experiential learning. In the newly formed Middle School, the sustained focus on belonging and community emphasises our values through interdisciplinary learning experiences that are active, creative, authentic and clearly designed with the needs of young adolescents in mind. In the Senior School, the wonderful focus on transitioning our Year 9 students through a program of inward inquiry and personal quest, leading into the magnificent work that our Pathways team undertake to tap into and honour the unique journey, leadings and gifts of each learner. This then leads into the broad and varied opportunities our students have to be who they are through their studies in Year 11 and 12 - in either the TCE or the IB Diploma, with a focus on Service, on deep inquiry, caring, thinking, being principled and open-minded. 

Beyond the curriculum there are Quaker Practices woven through the daily life of the School. This is seen in our Gatherings, held weekly from our Early Years students through to our Year 12s. The practice of silence to settle and reflect, to connect and listen is used at the start of lessons, the start of meetings and assemblies and it contributes to, what visitors notice as a ‘sense of calm’ at Friends’. The values of equality and community are seen in the practice of all people being known by their first names and reflected in the working groups that focus on reconciliation with our First Nations Peoples, in our policies and statements about gender equity, sustainability and earthcare. The involvement of staff in a large number of committees who work collaboratively in support of both school operations and governance reflects the School’s commitment to collaborative process in the Quaker tradition. Alongside this, the many students who attend Friends’ supported by scholarships and bursaries is evidence of the School’s commitment to equality of access and opportunity, whilst acknowledging the privilege of attending The Friends’ School. 

These tangible reflections on being a Quaker school are supported by the less measurable and noticeable but nonetheless fundamental elements that I have felt, heard and seen in my first months at Friends’. Much of that has strong echoes in the writings and reflections of former principal, William N. Oats, whose writing and reflection has been so useful to me. The Friends’ School is first and foremost a Quaker school because it sees education not as a process, or a set of programs but as a nurturing of the human spirit. That nurturing is seen firstly in the development of an inward awareness and then in the development of care and love for one's neighbours and then in a connection of these levels of awareness to spirit. At Friends’ we can see, in Bill’s words, “Education as the nurture of the full growth of the person as one in whom there is a uniquely developing self…concerned with the community in which the self develops, to which the self responds and through which the self realises its essential nature”. 

I felt grateful to be able to share the tangible and the intangible ways of this being a Quaker school. For the ways in which staff, students and families play a role in the partnership that enables the nurture of the human spirit. It was wonderful to be able to report on this to Australian Quakers and share my heartfelt observations of this special community. 

Of course the business of seeking and inquiring does not end and as we enter into the ‘Plus’ of Learning @ Friends' 24 Plus, it is timely for the Friends’ community to engage in collective inquiry in developing a new Strategic Plan. For the past several years, the School has been guided by a set of Strategic Priorities, which set out some clear goals and agendas for the work of the School. In this time of transition - new structures and a new Principal, the School, supported by its Board of Governors is pleased to be stepping into a phase of developing a new Strategic Plan. The plan will be developed through a collaborative process that captures the collective vision of our entire community - the Board, all of our staff, our students and their families, our alumni and the broader community. Currently, we are in the early phase of mapping out how this process will be undertaken and how all our community can be involved in that collective reflection, vision and imagining for the future. An exciting time for the School, which we will share with you as we finalise the process and details. 

Esther Hill - Principal