From the Deputy Principal

Living Vicariously

Back in the day, I was quite a serious horse rider and competed in Eventing and Show Jumping. Although I have hung up the riding boots these days, I am able to enjoy some “horsey time” by living vicariously through other members of our MAG community who are currently avid horse riders like I once was. One of our Year 3 teachers competes in Eventing, just like I used to. Miss Stacey Briggs is currently competing in the same events I competed in and has two chestnuts, Raff and Jeffery. She is riding Raff (whose “official” name is Marengo Valentino) very successfully in Eventing competitions – I think she might even give Andrew Hoy a run for his money!

We have a number of students who are also excellent horse riders and I was able to have a very enjoyable afternoon during the last school holidays watching one of them ride at the Elmore EA Equestrian Club Interschool Competition. Two of our students competed during the two-day competition that involved a variety of horse riding events. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see Skyla Cox ride but did get to cheer on Lucy Nelson.

Students and their horses and ponies from all over Victoria and Southern NSW competed at this prestigious event. The weather could have been better (it was raining most of the two days!) but that did not stop students travelling from far and wide to attend. Our MAG team competed very successfully over the weekend. Skyla who is in Year 7 competed on her Palomino pony, Weston Park Composer (Dude), in the preliminary Intermediate Dressage to achieve a great score of 74%! This is a very high score for an Intermediate Dressage Test.

Lucy who is in Year 12 competed on the Bay pony, Rosedale Lyric (Mary), across multiple disciplines over the two-day competition: Preliminary Senior Dressage to win a 6th overall in the Championship with an 8th and 4th in the individual Dressage tests, Novice Senior Dressage to win a 4th overall in the Championship with a 4th and 7th in the individual Dressage tests, winning a 2nd in the Novelties and a 3rd in the overall Show Horse Championship. Well done Skyla, Lucy, Dude and Mary!

On a very different note, a big congratulations to Mrs Hayley Catt who is our Acting Head of Teaching and Learning (Secondary) for the remainder of this year. Mrs Catt is a very experienced teacher and Head of Faculty with a wealth of knowledge about curriculum, learning, assessment and HSC. This means that we are looking for a science teacher to take over some of Mrs Catt’s classes and the relevant student’s families have been notified. In the meantime, Mrs Catt and the Science Faculty are making sure that her science classes are continuing with a high standard of learning as usual.

During the Tokyo Olympics I am sure many of you have (as I have!) been living vicariously through athletes from around the world as they compete in the wide variety of events that is the Olympic Games. This has been a welcome distraction for many as we grapple with all the effects of COVID 19 and the restrictions that go with it. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those of our MAG community who are doing it particularly tough during these times. To add to the welcome distraction of the Olympics happening in Tokyo our Primary School students have been very busy celebrating and learning about other countries during their own MAG Olympics. The "Closing Ceremony" of the MAG Olympics was this afternoon, and it was a wonderful, joyous and energetic event full of colour and fun! You will be able to read about it and experience it through all the photos later in this Newsletter.

Last term in my Elective Psychology class, the Year 10 students were given a task to design an Infographic or video snippet on the theme of “Brain Myths”. Having studied the brain in some detail, the aim was to research some of the myths about the brain and give some information to debunk those myths. The students did an excellent job of researching and creatively producing these. Some of the Infographics are included here and a video of one can be viewed at: Brain Myth by Will, Ethan & Archer 

There is also another special event today that I am looking forward to and that is the “100 Days of Kinder” celebrations! This is always a great day and chatting to the Kinders on this day each year I am always amazed how much they have learnt in their first 100 days of school. One of the best things about working in a K to 12 school, as long as I have, is that you get to see our Kinder students grow and flourish throughout their school life and being part of that is always an honour and a privilege.

As we navigate Victorian Lockdown #6 and NSW restrictions, we are very grateful to be able to have our students onsite everyday but recognise it may not be the same for their friends and relatives. Families - take care of yourselves and each other and during the school day the MAG community will certainly endeavour to take the best care of your child.

Mrs Kathleen Kemp

Deputy Principal