CEO's Welcome

I’m delighted to welcome you to this first MITS Family Newsletter for 2024, and in particular to welcome our new MITS Families.  We are so pleased to have you as a part of MITS and excited to work with you and your young people as they pursue their aspirations here in Melbourne!

The start of the school year is a time of connection and reconnection.  For our Year 7s, these first weeks see the formation of friendships that will last a lifetime – forged between young people from different parts of Australia who find common purpose at MITS.  We saw the first green shoots of these connections at our Orientation days in Darwin and here in Melbourne.  For our Senior Students, is it a time to reconnect.  This year, nearly 90 young people are living across our four boarding houses on Richmond Hill – a truly strong and connected community!

And, for all of us, the start of the year is a time to reconnect with Wurundjeri Country.  On our first night together in Melbourne, Uncle Colin Hunter led a very special Smoking and Welcome to Country on the rooftop garden of our 371 Church Street building, overlooking the traditional ceremonial grounds of Naarm.  For us, this is a new tradition at 371, rooted in the most ancient of traditions of the Wurundjeri people.

The students have already made so many connections in broader Melbourne – from the staff and players at Richmond Football Club, to classmates at Partner Schools, to the many people who form part of the wider MITS experience in Melbourne.  I know that a highlight of the year is always the Koori Surfing Carnival, which took place on Wathaurong Country last weekend.

I hope you enjoy this first newsletter, which showcases the way in which our students have already been seizing the opportunity of Melbourne in the first weeks of the school year.  I am very much looking forward to continuing to connect with you – our MITS Family – in the year ahead.

Ed Tudor

Chief Executive Officer