From the Principal

It’s been an exceptionally exciting start to Term 3, thanks to the reopening of our refurbished Christopher J Morey Building. In the days since Mr Morey cut the ribbon (which you can read about further on in this issue), I’ve loved seeing our students put the incredible new facilities to use. Our Lumination Learning Lab in particular has generated a lot of interest, which is no surprise given it looks like no classroom I’ve ever seen with its floor-to-ceiling screens, blackout curtains and headsets! Initially, our nine ‘Lab Champion’ teachers will be using the Lab in their classes across science and humanities, with a view to expanding its use across the School in the future based on their learnings.

Watching our students use the Lab’s immersive virtual and augmented reality technologies to dissect frogs, explore ancient tombs and visit foreign countries, my immediate reaction as an educator was to marvel that this is a space where it’s practically impossible to be a passive learner. Far from using technology to ‘do the work for them’, the Lab fully engages our students and empowers them to be fully immersed in their own learning, alongside their teachers. I was also struck by how easily they were using the technology on their very first attempt. They showed me just how intuitive this way of learning is for them as ‘digital natives’, which gives me great confidence that we’re investing in learning opportunities centred around the immediate needs of this generation.  

A key priority for us at Girton is preparing our students for their future endeavours in an increasingly uncertain world. Right now, many industries are racing to keep up with the rapid growth of technologies such as those used in our Lab – and understand the opportunities and challenges those technologies pose. While the sports world, for example, is grappling with the introduction of electronic umpiring and line-calling, over in Hollywood, writers and actors are striking over concerns about how AI will impact their roles. 

Education is no exception – there will always be uncertainty about what the latest technological developments mean for the ways we teach and assess, just as there was in the 1970s with the rise of handheld calculators, and in the 2000s with the mainstream use of search engines like Google and Wikipedia. But my hope is that by embracing today’s revolutionary technologies – through investing in facilities such as the Lab, and the work Mr Rod Smith is doing to explore the use of AI in education – we are putting our School in the best position to harness them. By engaging with available technologies, we can play a leading role in defining what learning will look like in the future, while ensuring our students are prepared for the world that awaits them. It really is a very exciting time, and I can’t wait to see how the Lab enriches our students’ learning experiences over the coming weeks and years.

Another important development for our school community is the release of this year’s NAPLAN results. In 2023, the results reporting has moved from the previous 10-band structure to four new proficiency standards: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs Additional Support. This simplification has led to the proficiency bar being set at a higher level overall. However, as far as can be determined given the difficulty of comparing different reporting scales, the results seem pleasing across all year levels. Once we have further information, we will provide a more in-depth analysis of the School’s performance on this test. We are very proud of all our students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 for their efforts in this national testing scheme, and would like to thank their teachers, parents and caregivers for their support throughout the process.

Finally, it’s been a pleasure to welcome parents and carers to our VCE 2024/2025 information event this week, which gave a comprehensive overview of what our students can expect during the next two years – from their subject choices to the pastoral care available to support them. I look forward to welcoming more families through our gates for additional Subject Information Evenings and Parent–Teacher Interviews over the coming weeks, as we progress through an energetic Term 3.

Dr Emma O'Rielly 

Principal