From the Principal

As we come to the end of Week 4, it is clear that our students are finding their rhythm and settling into the routines and rituals that define life at Girton. 

Our Junior School students have had an exciting fortnight, enjoying a wonderful day at their Swimming Carnival and their first week of using the Angus Mackay Pavilion. After months of patiently watching and waiting, it was wonderful to see their joy as they had the chance to enter this remarkable new learning and recreation facility for the very first time. 

The pavilion is named in honour of Mr Angus Mackay, whose generous donations to Girton over many years have made its construction possible. It has already established itself as a key landmark on our MacKenzie Street campus, and I look forward to celebrating its grand opening on Friday 7 March alongside our Junior School community and special guests. Parents and carers are warmly invited to join us for the opening ceremony as we come together to mark this significant milestone in our school’s development.

Amid the exciting events of recent weeks, I took a moment in today's Junior School Assembly to highlight another important occasion that may have gone unnoticed – Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is celebrated each year on 17 February. This celebration reminds us that small gestures of kindness, when practised daily, can add up to have a profound impact on our world and those within it. In Girton’s Year of Mattering, simple acts of generosity and compassion provide a meaningful way for even our youngest students to show others that they matter. 

Across our Junior School, I see kindness in action every day. I see it in our Year 5 Peer Mediators, as they step into the playground in their pink jackets to support their fellow students. I see it in the students who are participating in the World’s Greatest Shave, eagerly raising funds for this important cause by selling Zooper Doopers – always a popular item among our students! And I see it in the generosity of our parents and of benefactors like Angus Mackay, who contribute so much to our Junior School and Girton more broadly. 

Across the road in our Senior School, Year 11 and 12 students from every House took to the lectern this week to launch our 2025 Inter-House Public Speaking Competition, impressing audiences with their subject knowledge and passionate delivery. Public speaking is a life skill that we actively encourage our students to develop at Girton. Whether it’s through opportunities to speak in assemblies or formal participation in our public speaking and debating co-curricular activities, our students are able to develop a level of confidence speaking in public that sets them apart long after they leave our school. 

As she prepares to depart Girton for new adventures after 25 years of service, I would like to extend my deepest thanks to Mrs Allison Crickmore for championing the public speaking competition and co-curricular at Girton, and helping countless students find their voices in the process. In addition, I would like to share that Mr Graham Crickmore will be stepping back from the Head of Student Activities position and is looking forward to returning to a teaching and House Tutor role, while continuing to coordinate our assemblies and act as Year 8 Camp Leader. Along with many students past and present, I am sincerely grateful for Graham’s significant contributions to Girton’s camps program over many years, and more recently to excursions and other school activities. We wish both Allison and Graham the best as they navigate their respective transitions.  

One of the topics explored by our students in this year’s public speaking competition was the impact of platforms such as social media on public opinion, which was also a subject I discussed in my address at this week’s Senior School Principal’s Assembly. I know that social media is a topic on the minds of many students and families right now, especially in light of the federal government legislating age restrictions for social media. Just as I did with AI in 2024, I hope to explore the topic of social media with our Senior School students across several assemblies this year. In this first address, I started at the very beginning – tracing the evolution and transformation of social media over the decades to help us understand how we got to where we are now. My hope is that by broadening our students’ understanding of the digital world they will inherit, they will be better equipped to navigate it with caution and kindness.

Circling back to the topic of kindness, this week I was delighted to receive a letter from the University of Melbourne informing me that Jenna Ackland, a Prefect from our Class of 2024, has been awarded the prestigious Hansen Scholarship. Among the most valuable undergraduate scholarships in Australia, it recognises students who have demonstrated resilience and a deep commitment to supporting others. Jenna channelled her energy into many important causes at Girton – from our recycling program to our Girton Community Action Group – embodying the compassion we aim to instil in our students. It is wonderful to see Jenna recognised with this award, and continuing to make a meaningful impact beyond Girton.

I am so proud to be the Principal of a school where kindness, compassion and generosity are not only valued but lived every day. I thank you for the role you have played in instilling these values within our students and school culture, and I wish you a wonderful weekend ahead. 

Dr Emma O’Rielly

Principal