Message from
the Principal

Dr Andrew Parry

In recent weeks there has been significant media coverage regarding a petition highlighting the sexual assault of teenage girls by boys from single sex schools, and the great need for more education around consent. The shocking experiences shared by hundreds of young women are immensely distressing and disturbing.

Though this petition has largely featured allegations made against students of single sex schools, one would be naïve and wrong to think that such issues are not confronted in other schools or areas of the broader community.

Sexual assault and the mistreatment of women is a cultural issue: not that of only a particular school sector. We know that such disrespectful and hurtful behaviour is a broader problem affecting all schools and all areas of society.

This gross lack of respect is seen across the whole community. We hear of appalling stories in the corporate world, we hear accounts of horrific domestic abuse and the deaths of women at the hands of violent partners. We see this behaviour in our Governments and a number of these incidents are very much in the spotlight at present where young women have been raped and abused by powerful men.

These harrowing accounts are not uncommon stories and many women suffer abuse and disrespect where their human dignity is violated. Such a situation causes me, and I am sure all of you, great distress. Society has a problem and we must all take action to change it.

Such examples of appalling and disrespectful behaviour provide models of conduct that can normalize and desensitize others to such damaging and hurtful behaviour. As the Principal of Wenona School, Briony Scott argued in her opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald last week, “Schools can’t end the scourge of sexual assault, adults behaving like adults can. Young people learn by watching. They look for cues as to how to behave in situations where they have little experience. They listen to the words, they watch the finger pointing and they know what behaviour is validated and what behaviour is ignored. They learn to be good people by watching adults, and learning what matters.”

In order for young people to become respectful, empathetic and good citizens, schools, parents and families, indeed all members of society carry responsibility for positive role modelling. Of course schools can and must play an important role in shaping values and attitudes of young people, and I will work tirelessly and consult other school leaders to put in place more strategies to increase awareness around consent and respect. But without families, adults and society leading the way – real and lasting change will not occur. We currently have a number of initiatives in place to address the concept of consent and respectful relationships but the issues highlighted in recent weeks would indicate more needs to be done in all schools.

We are highly conscious that our role as educators is not one of simply teaching the syllabus, we play a crucial role in providing guidance, mentoring and developing young people as a whole. We support the ongoing need for candid and robust discussion on this important issue, as well as promoting awareness and improvement in proactive education about acceptable, respectful behaviour. To do this we will continue to work with young people to make good and correct choices based on their respect for the dignity that all people deserve.

Visit by Mrs Fiona Nash to launch International Women’s Day

The celebration of International Women’s Day next week can be a starting point for us all to consider how we can make our society a safer, more equal and respectful place that honours the rights of all human beings.

We must be a community that celebrates kindness, empathy and respectful relationships.

We had the immense pleasure of welcoming Mrs Fiona Nash to our Assembly this week to launch our acknowledgement of International Women’s Day which will be celebrated next week on March 8. Fiona has led a life of distinguished services working largely to advance rural communities. She is an outstanding role model in her desire to serve others and has been a highly successful and influential leader in this nation.

Mrs Nash is currently the Strategic Advisor for Regional Engagement for Charles Sturt University. For many years she was involved in farming in the Central West of NSW and has a deep love and understanding of rural Australia. She spent twelve years in Federal Parliament as a Senator for NSW and also held Ministerial positions including Rural Health and Cabinet positions of Regional Development, Regional Communications and Local Government and Territories. Fiona was also Deputy Leader of the National Party.

Mrs Nash gave an excellent address to the School giving an outline of her journey and stressed the importance of women having the courage and self-belief to lead and serve communities. Mrs Nash was both profound and humorous while sharing her experiences of her time in the Senate. She had many key take outs such as encouraging girls to pursue their areas of passion with energy and confidence, and for women to support each other in their endeavours. Mrs Nash also shared her knowledge in workshops with our Year 11 and Year 12 Legal Studies students and Year 12 Agriculture students, and our Year 10 Commerce students. Additionally, Mrs Nash helped induct our three new School Prefects and spent time with all our Prefect body. It was a pleasure and honour to have Mrs Nash at KWS.

International Women’s Day provides opportunities to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Across the world the achievements of women are recognised and the great importance of women’s equality articulated.

New Prefect Appointments

It is with great pleasure that we have appointed three new School Prefects to the Senior School leadership group. Each have demonstrated their great character and desire to serve and have shown that leadership is about service, being a positive role model and striving to make their community a better place. They have revealed their character through their actions and deserve to be appointed as Prefects of Kinross Wolaroi School.

Congratulations to: Joseph Armstrong; Mackenzie Jones and Elizabeth Kwa.

Our new Prefects were presented with their badges of office by Mrs Nash at our School Assembly this week.

Congratulations

We were delighted to hear of the selection of two of our HSC students for their Industrial Technology major works in the Shape 2020 exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. This exhibition features the best Major Works from NSW.

Congratulations to Sam Archer – Ultra Modern Grandfather Clock and Harry Kermode – Mini Loader.

Congratulations also to three students who will receive awards at a virtual Presentation Evening next week for their selection in the Texstyle Exhibition and also the TEA Art Piece Challenge (TAP). HSC student, Rosanna Flatau had her Major Textiles work selected for exhibition in Shape 2020, and Year 9 students Matthew Fox and Bella Sinclair who both won places in the Stage 5 division of the TAP challenge – an initiative which encourages younger students to develop an interest in textiles and design.

Staffing

Junior School Learning Support Restructure

2021 has seen considerable change for Kinross Wolaroi School. We are embracing the opportunities this presents as we strive to bring students and their families into a new approach to Learning Support in the School. We are formulating plans to transition to a new format, designed to maximise in-class support, as well as support outside of the school day, to reach a wider scope of students. As part of these plans there has been a restructure of personnel and Mr Luke Bracks is stepping away from his role as Junior School Learning Support Teacher. This change brings opportunities for Learning Support staff to work across the School from K-12 providing a greater level of cohesion for our more fragile learners.

This change will see Mr Luke Bracks finish with us on Friday 5 March after 7 years of dedicated service. Mr Bracks joined the staff at KWS on a Learning Support Teacher (K-6) in 2014 and has made considerable contribution to the learning of many students during his time. He has been innovative in his approach and demonstrated great care for his students.