From the Principal
Books offer not only enjoyment but wisdom and insight; we have much to learn!
During the past fortnight, I spent time with the Reception students. We enjoyed reading together Grumble Boats by Susannah McFarlane. A beautiful tale about a little girl and the advice she receives from her Grandma regarding how to manage her uncomfortable and difficult feelings. I was incredibly impressed with the Reception students’ listening skills and their ability to interpret the messages from the book.
This week at the senior school assembly, I shared with the students an experience I had late last year, when I had the opportunity to see Pip Williams’ novel The Dictionary of Lost Words, brought to life on the stage through a collaboration between the State Theatre Company South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company. (Ironically, and from my perspective, a very appropriate collaboration between what is now my two favourite Australian states!)
This beautiful novel and dramatic theatre production tells the story of Esme who was born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary.
Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.
Whilst the period in which the story took place, that is the late 19th century and life today in 2024 could not be more different, as both a reader and member of the audience, there is a lot we can learn about Esme’s story.
Esme and Lizzie remind us that “Words define us, they explain us, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us.”
As I explained to the students, this quote powerfully reminds us of the importance of how we use our words. Whether it is directly to someone through our speech, or virtually, as we chat online, it is important that we communicate with kindness and sincerity.
As has been previously and importantly noted, Mary Ward reminds us of the importance of acting with integrity and a sense of being genuine that ‘we be such as we appear and appear such as we are’. Or more simply, to “match word and deed”.
Returning to the characters of Esme and Lizzie from The Dictionary of Lost Words…. “A vulgar word, well placed and said with just enough vigour, can express far more than its polite equivalent.”
Particularly online, it feels safe and easy to enter conversations without kind thoughts and dishonesty. As a screen between us gives us anonymity and protects us from seeing the reaction on the other side. I continue to challenge the students to communicate with honesty, respect, kindness and sincerity, whether it is face to face or online.
Whether it is Grumble Boats or the Dictionary of Lost Words, books offer not only enjoyment but wisdom and insight; we have much to learn!
Ms Kylie McCullah
Principal