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Below is the final assembly speech that I shared with Year 12s this year.

A special hello and cheer to you this afternoon our graduating class of Year 12 2020.

I have had the delight of watching most of you grow from innocent young tweens into more worldly and definitely more confident young people who are ready, very soon, to embrace life’s new adventures.

I don’t know if you remember but in 2015, on your first morning at MFG I told you one of my many stories that you have heard over your time at MFG. This one was about the lessons we can learn from geese.

I told you that in flight, wild geese honk at each other if they think one of their members is flagging a bit. It is their togetherness as a community that keeps them going and ensures their survival. This honking isn’t negative or fault-finding or complaining. It is a positive, encouraging act, made for the benefit of the whole group.

I asked you all to be honkers; to be encouragers; looking always for the best in people; being around when others need us; looking out for others; noticing when they’re not coping and lending a hand.

I stuck pictures of geese honking up on your classroom doors to remind you. I have watched you be honkers over your time at MFG and I thank you for your honking care for each other this year where you have needed to support each other more than ever before.

You were also the first cohort to wear our new school uniform.

You were also part of converting our disused tennis court to an amazing community garden.

It was your cohort that built and planted our first garden beds in this space.

I remember your energy and enthusiasm to start something new in our school and to embrace the concepts of earth care, people care and fair share.

I hope you take these permaculture principles as simple guides for your lives: look after and care for our environment, look after our people, share what you have.

It was also the year of selecting our new houses: Freeman, Lipson, Gilmore and Beachley. It is your year level that has really adopted these houses, made them come alive and I will always remember you passions for your houses – I love the roar of Beachley, Lipson, Gilmore and Freeman. The cheering in the hall is always exhilarating and brings a huge smile to my face.

In 2016 I told you a story about my summer holidays where I spent the holidays learning how to drive our tractor.

Thank you Lani for reminding me of this story and for your awesome gift that sits on my desk.

So why did this grey headed old woman in her 50s tell you about learning to drive a tractor?

I had a property and learning how to drive a tractor came in handy when I needed to move lots of things on my little farmlet. I could cart 10 wheelbarrow loads of mulch or one bucket worth in the tractor.

At the time, I had not quite learnt to drive the tractor “yet”.

Now, I am proud to say, with practice and effort I have mastered the tractor not only in turtle mode (that is ultra slow for beginners and rough terrain) but I have also got the hang of hare mode (that’s when you can really get some speed up). I am even more proud to say that I have even got the hang of the “scoopy uppy” thing.

Now to learn to master the tractor I had to show persistence and effort.

Why did I share this story with you? It was about persistence and the willingness to keep trying if you haven’t quite mastered something “yet”. I encouraged you to show persistence even when things were hard and you felt like you could spend your time doing other things. I would like to remind all of you of this today. Keep that word “yet” firmly in your brains and don’t give up, even when things are tough.

To our VCE students, the next month will be tough and will require you to persist and put in effort, even when you would prefer to be out with friends, earning money or doing anything other than studying for your exams. I urge you to stay focussed, seek feedback from your teachers and be willing to put in the effort to finish well.

2016 was also the year that Jamie graduated from MFG. One of my proudest moments as a principal was watching Jamie graduate. I will never forget her walking down the aisle in the hall wearing her academic gown and all of you standing up and cheering her. The cheer was so loud and genuine it brought tears to my eyes.

This moment was so symbolic for me. I have many times spoken about everyone, no matter who you are, no matter your cultural background, your sexual orientations, your religion or physical and intellectual capability – everyone is welcome and deserves to be respected at MFG.

In 2017 we got the grant from the Government to refurbish the buildings on our Main site. I asked you what you would like us to spend our money on.

You responded with the following:

Better heating
Cooler classrooms
Colour – lots of colour
Make it easy to find the teachers
Nature/garden inside and outside
Classes where you can see out and overflow into corridors but not big open space classrooms
Places to plug in your technology

I think we have achieved most of these things. I am so pleased that you got to use the facilities in Embling this year.

During 2017 some of you approached Ms Carr and asked if she could change the track suit pants and introduce a rugby jumper.

She listened and consulted with you and we introduced these new items into our uniform options in 2018. Thank you for your suggestions, I love our rugby jumper.

In Term 1 2018 we had a visit from our Reunion Islanders. Some of you hosted families and went on the school trips with our visitors.

These trips are special in our school calendars, along with the trips to France, Indonesia, our Central Australia trip and our MFG Challenge. Many of you have taken part in these events and I am sure will form some of the fondest memories of your high school years.

In 2019 we asked you, what traits, dispositions and values you feel are important for us to foster in you at MFG. We spent time collecting your ideas, those of your families and those of the staff.

Word clouds were created from your feedback and it was from these word clouds that some students helped us to generate the 11 MFG traits.

Now I realise they are a little unwieldly and hard to remember – but all of these traits are important for life. I hope you take them with you into your lives and live them well beyond MFG.

Well this year, we have not had many assemblies where I can share stories with you. I will have to come up with a ripper for your graduation.

When I welcomed you back at the beginning of this year, like you, I had not imagined that this year would turn out as it has with a world-wide pandemic, lock downs and Home Based Learning.

This is meant to be a tough year, but also a celebratory year where you make your final bonds with everyone in your year level, attend lots of 18th birthday parties, learn to drive and finally commemorate finishing school together. Sadly, many of these things have not happened or have had to be modified to keep each other safe. And this is the point I want you to take with you today – you have given each other the best gift you can, you have kept each other and your families safe.

I thank you for your care of each other through the challenges of home isolation and for your leadership of our school community over the course of the year. Thank you for continuing to honk at each other.

While this is not the year I would have chosen for you, it is a year that you will remember better than any other.

I hope Year 12s as you leave us you will remember there is much in your past that is worth thinking about and learning from.

And there is much in your future that is worth planning for and being excited about.

But always remember throughout your life that you will only have the present moment. Always aim to celebrate the goodness and opportunities of the present. Remember to enjoy each day and all that it brings.

I want to leave you with a quote from one of my favourite people, Winnie the Pooh:

“What day is it?" asked Pooh

"It's today," squeaked Piglet.

"My favorite day," said Pooh.

Good bye Year 12s and remember to … “keep looking forward.”

Ms Michelle Crofts

Principal of Matthew Flinders Girls

Clubs: The Weird Sisters Creative Writing Club