Principal's Report

Beauty and the Beast

There are so many comments I've heard since the Production - people have been writing, and ringing and just dropping in to tell us how amazing it was!  The primary school students who saw the preview were seen leaving, in the pouring rain, singing along to "Be Our Guest"!

From one very proud grandmother: " We are so proud that our granddaughters are attending Wantirna College.The College is a very nurturing school and gives all students the opportunity to pursue different areas that they may not have considered before and the encouragement and confidence to extend themselves.   We look forward to attending more concerts and productions."

I certainly thought it was one of the best productions I've seen, and I've seen a lot - both at Wantirna and previously when I was at Melbourne High with the combined productions we did there with Macrobertson Girls High. 

It was certainly one of the slickest - the timing of everything was perfect and the settings looked amazing.  

Congratulations to all the students who were in the Ensemble, the Character Ensemble and the Dancers - your performances were noticeable as individuals, but the cleverness of the choreography had you moving as one.  I can never work out how so many performers can be on stage at the same time and not trip over each other. 

Congratulations to the Tech Crew - you get better and better each year and one day will do Mr Lewis out of a job.  Particular thanks to our past students (and parent, Clive Savoury) who return each year to work on the Production.  And I bet many of our audience members didn't even know there was a full orchestra back stage, led by Danny Van Bergen - thank you to all of them.

Once again having the animations on the LED screens gave life to support the superb performances of the cast. The lighting and sound were flawless and meant it was really easy to view and to hear.  I found one of the standout features was the articulation of the words as the cast sang; it is really hard to follow a story through song and to get all the jokes when a cast mumbles.  Each of the characters was crystal clear, which is especially important for characters like LeFou played by Liam Papic and Cogsworth played by Lochlan Evans.  The comedy in their performances was in their lines as well as their brilliantly executed physical humour.

Nikhil deSilva, playing Lumiere, was many people's favourite character, probably for his cheekiness!  It was terrific to see Rebecca Smedely step up into the important role of Babbette which she portrayed so well.  Mrs Potts, Tineque Law, and Chip, Ben Barrett, stole the show for the mother and son pathos, and cuteness factor, and for the amazing singing of the title song.

I had many favorites, but one was Stacey Alexander, playing Madam de La Grande Bouche.  I have a really clear memory of Stacey at her first concert in Year 7 and of the little voice and shy demeanor.  When she first sang, as a wardrobe, and the remarkable operatic voice came out, I almost fell off my seat!  Watching that growth in ability over a period of time is one of the things I find most fun about this job - thank you Stacey!

And what can you say about Gaston - he was horrible!  Which meant James Keam did a really fantastic job!  It is hard to play a villain, but James did it perfectly, becoming the perfect foil for the kind man we eventually see as the Beast.  Patrick Rogers, playing Belle's father Maurice brought back memories of when he was Gavroche in Les Miserable.  What an extreme of casting - from young boy to old man in about four years!  Fortunately Pat's  growing acting skills were up to the task!

Lachlan Cowman moved to a more serious part as "The Beast", leaving the Mad Hatter and those sleazy DJs behind him.  I thought he brought great sensitivity to the role, which is very hard to convey when you are weighted down by all that hair!  He was perfect for the part and we all gasped in wonder as he emerged as the handsome prince (thank you Leyton!)  Lachlan's comic timing also came through and really highlighted the depth to his acting,  and of his character, helping us as the audience to engage deeply with the story. 

Which brings me to Belle - what can you say? I think Amelia is the consummate professional.  Every minute she was on that stage she was totally in character.  The subtlety of her facial expressions showed she was living each moment for Belle.  Her voice soared to heights I didn't think were possible and sent shivers through the audience.  I can't wait to see what she does next.  We'll all be waiting at the stage door to congratulate her! 

On behalf of all in our community I would like to congratulate all students who were involved in the Production - it brings us all great joy.

And on behalf of the community I would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the staff  team who make this happen.  To Andrew, Beryl, Shane, Jacki, Marty, Kate, Ash, and Carolyn - THANK YOU!!!

Interim reports

Interim reports for every student for Term 3 will be available on Compass from Monday afternoon, next week.  You will receive a push notification from Compass when this happens, and the link will take you to the report.

Parent & Teacher Interviews

At the same time as the reports being available, the Parent Teacher interview bookings will open on Compass.  Parent Teacher interviews are on Thursday 21 September, in the last week of term.  The program for the day is that students should come to school on that day for the Interview only, with their parent.

This is the first time we've used Compass for booking interviews, so it will look a little different to what you've seen before.  The concept is exactly the same and it is very user friendly.  

When bookings open you will receive a push notification to tell you, and there will be a note in your Newsfeed about them.  There will be a link to take you to the booking page.

If you want to find it manually, go to the Community menu item - the two heads, (see below) and Conference bookings.  Choose your child, and fill in the times you wish to com. There are three sessions from which you can choose:

-  1.00pm to 3.00pm,

-  3.30pm to 6.00pm 

- 7.00pm to 9.00pm

If you have any dificulty, please just call the Office and they will assist you.

Long Service Leave

I will be on Long Service Leave for the last week of term, leaving after the Gala Concert (which I wouldnt miss!) on the Monday evening, and for the first week of Term 4.  Ms Catherine Ford will be Acting Principal in my absence.  I'll be back in time to farewell the Year 12s.

Sue Bell

Principal