Principal's Message

                                                                     Mrs Josie Crisara

Welcome Back

This week we welcomed back the Prep to Year 2 students and the Year 11 and Year 12 students. We had 96% of students in attendance. It was with renewed optimism and excitement that students and staff have returned. The joy and laughter of students in the playground, in the Common Rooms and in their classes was evident all day. There was a sense of some relief for parents too. We look forward to the remainder of the students returning on Tuesday 9 June.

The return to school requires some adjustment in routines and expectations. Homeroom and Pastoral Care teachers are debriefing with students on their experiences and emphasising the great determination and resilience shown in difficult circumstances. 

Thank you to parents for the effort you have made in supporting your children and the staff. It is a community working together that makes the difference.

Temporary Buildings for Years 3-6

In preparation for the construction of Stage 1 of the Primary School building (Years 3-6), the temporary classrooms have begun to arrive. The Fairview students were most excited seeing the big crane maneuvering parts of the building and locating them on-site. The classrooms should be ready for occupancy at the beginning of Term 3, after which demolition of the old buildings will commence. 

Kitchen Garden

The Kitchen Garden landscaping is taking place.

Reconciliation Week

This week begins National Reconciliation week. The theme for this year is ‘In this together’ - an apt theme considering our experiences over the last two months. At our formal occasions we do an Acknowledgement to Country:

I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet; the  Wurundjeri people of the Kulan Nation. It is upon their ancestral lands that this school is built. As we share our own knowledge, teaching, learning may we also pay respect to the knowledge embedded forever in custodianship of country.

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We all have a role to build relationships and a community that values our first peoples, their histories and cultures.

In 2008 the Commonwealth Government made an Apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples. A copy of the Prime Minister’s statement is in the foyer of the Administration building and its content reads:

That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

What an important way to build community and show compassion, respect and kindness.