Deputy Principal

The Importance of Girls Knowing They Matter and the Balance of Mastery and Playfulness in Schools

I was curious at the number of students walking through La Foresta on Tuesday morning during Homeroom. It was a special day for our campus as students returned to school after three academic days away due to Cyclone Alfred. (Wonderful to have our campus filled with students again!) It was Greccio House walking around the campus for 30 minutes to allow students to experience what it feels like for others less fortunate than us. Currently, 292 million people spend more than 30 minutes walking to collect water. It was the ‘why’ for the Caritas Australia Project Compassion Lent Appeal as we raise funds for water tanks in schools across the globe so that every child has the right to safe drinking water alongside their right to an education. Great work, Tamara Richardson, Head of Greccio House! Click the play button below to watch highlights from the Greccio Water Walk and experience the journey for yourself. 

It could have been so easy to take students into Homerooms and huddle comparing stories of time at home and the many ways the cyclone and its tail affected households. These conversations still happened. The difference is they happened side-by-side, teacher and students sharing their stories by acknowledging their circumstance alongside a wider problem. A micro and macro view on life for us and others. I watched them for quite some time.

I spent some of the time away from the classroom this week immersing myself in the resources provided by the International Coalition of Girls Schools of which we are a member. I did this as my time freed up a bit and I wanted to spend some time in the space that International Women’s Day provides. Their podcast, The Connected Girl, provides evidence-based research on the effectiveness of single-sex schools for girls. It also provides a platform for authors and experts to share their wisdom on the topic. Their introductory statement for the 2025 season is inspiring:

Every human being has the potential to be a source of energy, power and light. And, like an electrical system, we have components that make up the whole - a battery, a circuit board, fuses and delicate filament that enable us to illuminate ourselves, our space and each other. But for the whole system to glow consistently, we need strong connections within that network. Connections to and from every part of us - mind, body and spirit. When it comes to girls, especially when they feel whole connected to themselves and others, they know that they matter beyond just their parts and accomplishments. When girls know they matter, they are more likely to thrive and shine.

National Coalition of Girls’ Schools. (n.d.). Advocacy podcast. Retrieved February 26, 2025, from https://girlsschools.org/advocacy/podcast

How good! Mt A as a source of energy, power and light for our girls.  It is not lost on me that St Clare is commemorated as a vital source of light in our Franciscan tradition.

We have so much evidence of the battery, circuit board, fuses and delicate filaments we offer our students. It is an important message for our current community and the families choosing a school for their current Year 4 child with interviews for a space at Mt A in 2028. We often get asked, as our academic results grow each year, whether we are becoming one of ‘those academic schools that takes the fun out of learning?’ We are proud to reply, ‘absolutely not’. In fact, we challenge this thinking with Mt A as a place that tells and shows our students ‘they matter’, providing the space for academic results to thrive.  Our results are the culmination of excellence in teaching and learning; outstanding educational wellbeing programs lead by experienced Heads of House and events and service opportunities that allow students to take in a bigger picture of their local and global world.

I spent a day with Professor Andy Hargreaves last month. Andy is a speaker, author, advisor and researcher who advocates for equitable and inclusive education, a strong teaching profession, and positive educational change worldwide. He was a guest of Independent Schools Queensland. Andy spoke in detail about the importance of schools having a balance of mastery and ‘playfulness’ in their student offerings to bolster positive wellbeing. It caused me to do a deep dive into our student offering. Our mastery is progressing well with our strong ATAR results; vocational pathways; NAPLAN scores; focus on goal setting and our five learner attributes of readiness, aspiration, persistence, agency and scholarship. On the playfulness side, I was reminded of Erin Moffat’s Head of House communication to families about Perugia’s win at the recent Interhouse Swimming Carnival filled with frog puns of ‘hopping on in’ and House meetings in ‘the pond’ as they embrace ‘Poppy’, their new frog mascot.  I witness Homeroom fun and intra-Homeroom challenges that bring the smiles at the start of the academic day. I reflected on the joy at the Interhouse Swimming Carnival including the senior themes to display House pride. I remembered rehearsal #3 of Mamma Mia a couple of Sundays ago and the willingness of the cast to learn the lines, harmonies and choreography with laugh-out-loud moments. I am excited for the upcoming Cross Country event.  Mt A have playfulness in check.

The International Coalition of Girls’ Schools podcast episode titled ‘The Power in Knowing You Matter with Jennifer Wallace’ states that we need to ensure our girls know they truly matter, are valued and add value to the world far beyond their academic and athletic accomplishments. Instructing our girls they are valued for being themselves, is the gift that keeps on giving well beyond adolescence. So, when your daughter advises that she doesn’t want to come to the swimming carnival because she needs to catch up on study; or the last day of school has cross country and you can pick me up early before the Easter Liturgy commences…we would appreciate your challenge to these statements.  The extra things we do are the moments that matter. They are the things that allow your daughter to find her connection to her peers, her community and the wider world. They are the moments that allow everyone in our community, like St Clare,  to ‘be a source of energy, power and light.’ We thank you in advance for supporting our efforts on the academic and wellbeing growth of your daughter by being present for everything we offer.

All the very best.

Michelle Licina

Deputy Principal Student Development and Wellbeing (Acting)