From the Principal

This morning, some of our Senior Secondary students and student leadership team attended the Tasmanian Parliamentary Prayer breakfast. The guest speaker was John Kamara, the 2023 Tasmanian Australian of the Year. John was born and raised in Sierra Leone but was forced to flee his warn-torn homeland. After many years in a refugee camp, John settled in Tasmania and has since worked or served on the board of governance for many organisations, supporting migrants, refugees and people from culturally diverse communities.

As John spoke about the experiences that shaped his understanding of leadership, he shared examples of times when he was confronted by very difficult situations, whether in Africa or in Australia. At each point, he responded to the challenges before him by trying to spread joy and gratitude. While living in a refugee camp, for example, he organised a praise and worship evening, to draw the community together and shift their focus away from the immediate situation and onto the God who is over all. When faced with racism and harassment in Australia, he responded by drawing together others from diverse backgrounds to sing, dance and eat together, and engage others within the wider community in understanding the vibrant African culture.

He spoke to the audience about the parable of the Good Samaritan and encouraged us to recognise that we live in a diverse community, that our neighbours come from many different nations and cultures. Some of our neighbours have experienced trauma and dislocation. John explained that he sees his role as a bridge, to help create connections between the more mainstream Tasmanian community and those from diverse backgrounds, so all individuals can thrive and we, as a community can all be enriched by the contribution of those from many different cultural groups.

This week, it was Grade 1’s turn to host the Primary Assembly. As part of their presentation, they shared some of the insights from their current unit of inquiry related to oceans. It was a delight to hear them share some of the interesting facts they had uncovered as part of their investigations. One of these was that a blue whale, the largest animal on the planet, was the same size as 33 elephants lined up. I tried to imagine a long line of elephants and it gave me some sense how impressive this gentle giant of the sea must be.

One of the things I appreciate about the Primary Years Program is the emphasis on students as inquirers. Each time a teacher undertakes a unit with students, it will be different because the students in the class will pose different questions. The students also become researchers, using a range of sources to gather information. In addition to books and video material, our Grade 1 and 2 students recently interviewed my son who works in marine science research and tomorrow they have an excursion to the Woodbridge Marine Discovery Centre. This will enable them to have a close-up view of some of the local species about which they have been learning. I have no doubt it will be a fascinating hands-on experience for the students.

Within our school, we want to inspire and equip students. We want to foster a sense of wonder at the amazing creation that surrounds us and develop the skills they need to learn more about what is around them. It has been a delight to see our Grade 1 and 2 students’ enthusiasm and their commitment to applying their learning skills to dig deeper into the topic.

I would like to encourage as many members of our school community as possible to attend the Grade 10 Personal Project exhibition tomorrow night. Last week, I was involved in interviewing some of the Grade 10 students as they shared some of the journey to develop their final product. They spoke about how their idea for their project emerged, why it was important to them, some of the challenges they encountered and how they worked through these. It was especially pleasing to hear so many students share that they were proud of what they had produced.

Jodie Bennett

Principal