Principal 

Year 9 Vietnam Program

This week I am fortunate enough to be writing from Vietnam, having spent today with group one of this year’s Year 9 Vietnam Experience. As a central marker in the Senior School journey at College and as the peak trip of the Year 9 Experience, the three-week cultural and service tour is designed to be challenging and, in parts, uncomfortable. Through a program like this, students become more comfortable with discomfort and learn they can push through challenging and novel experiences. I will meet with the second group on Monday when they arrive and then wish them well for the rest of their trip. 

In her interview for College Captain two weeks ago, one candidate said she loves travel because it is like “collecting perspectives”. This was beautifully phrased and spot on – by collecting perspectives, students come to see that people who might initially seem different are actually very similar to us. Any education worth having has that understanding at its centre. So, I hope that our Year 9s have a fabulous time collecting many perspectives over the next three weeks and come back richer for it. 

Head of Laidlaw

This week, Head of Laidlaw House in the Senior School, Sylvia McMullen, conveyed to her house that she will be taking next year off on leave. She leaves the house in excellent shape – although perhaps with some immediate disappointment following last week’s House Music – and ready for the next Head of House to take over. We wish Sylvia well for the year ahead and will commence the process of finding her replacement in the coming weeks. 

Ted Hunter House Football Cup – Inaugural Match

Next Wednesday, 16 September, we will inaugurate the Ted Hunter House Football Cup, as a perpetual tribute to this much-loved Class of 2025 Old Collegian. I am grateful to the Southern Grampians Shire Council for the use of Melville Oval, and to Ted’s family – Bindi, Pete and Hugh – for their support of this memorial and for being there next Wednesday. The four houses will combine into two teams and play off for the Ted Hunter House Football Cup, the trophy for which appropriately features Ted’s football (which staff still had because it had been confiscated, again…). Through this event each year, Ted will have left us with a reminder of the importance of doing what you love; that we should all metaphorically live life with a ball in our hands.