Acting Principal’s Report

This is my first newsletter report since the tragic news of the death of Athenie Kalos. Usually, in most incidents that occur, we can find some semblance of a silver lining, somewhere, but in the death of Athenie there is nothing but shock, sadness and grief for her family, friends and the MGC community.

Last Friday we made available a space for students to come and write in a Memory Book for Athenie (there were actually two books). Some students had brought in pictures, others shared a message for their friend. It was nice that current and former rowers were able to contribute and students from Athenie’s previous school have also passed on messages. Soon we will pass on these books to Athenie’s family as a way to remember her time at MGC. Also, later in this newsletter there is a contribution at the bottom of the Aviso page sharing one of Athenie’s music compositions.

Patricia Sklavakis, Sefija Demirova, Leigh Hanley as well as Brittany Killer and Danielle Floyd in Wellbeing and support from Student Support Services in the Region have provided support to our students at this difficult time. They will continue to provide support over coming weeks. I ask that students and parents continue to reach out to the staff listed above if we can be of any further assistance regarding wellbeing support or support in managing the exam period. We have been able to organise with VCAA emergency arrangements to ease some aspects of the exam period for Athenie’s friends and classmates.

More generally, our advice to parents at this time is to continue to check in with your child and to listen to their concerns at any time they wish to share them. Parents may also find the attached resource from Headspace useful to help with these conversations.

Brent Houghton

Acting Principal