Principal's news
Dear Parents,
Term Three has commenced with a similar buzz to that of the start of the year with so many activities and achievements already noted in this short time.
Our Positive Impact Awards continue to be circulated to deserving students and the number of students receiving these awards has been significant.
Recently we held Information Evenings, with senior school subject selection for next year well under way. There was an air of excitement in the NP Nikolakakis Centre for Academic Excellence which was used to host our VCE Information Evening. Many positive comments were made in relation to the quality of the building which is supported by our students’ feedback and daily users.
We continue to celebrate our School’s fortieth anniversary with a special Founders’ Day Assembly to be held in August, which signifies the hard work and vision of our School’s founders. It is expected that several dignitaries will be in attendance, including former Principals, Board Members and those who have contributed to the growth and development of our School.
In addition, we look forward to hosting the 2023 Business Breakfast which will be held on the morning of Thursday 24 August. This event is always a highlight during term three and we look forward to our guest presenters Sarah Davies, CEO of Alannah & Madeline Foundation, and Andrew Cornwall, CEO of Ventura sharing their story.
This year marks a significant generational shift where the oldest of our world’s youngest generation, Generation Alpha become teenagers and begin high school. Millennial parents of Generation Alpha are tech savvy in and of themselves, and these parents receive inspiration through Influences on Social Media and Podcasts. Chat GPT, which most of you would be familiar with is a freely accessible artificial intelligence (AI), Chat Bot designed to generate human like responses to virtually any question. This technology is on the brink of shaking up almost every aspect of the education life cycle. With the looming prospect of open AI slowly integrating its service into the suite of Microsoft applications, we are encouraging our teachers to become familiar with using this technology. The initial reaction from many state governments, including Victoria was to ban generative AI in schools. The Oakleigh Grammar approach is to learn more about generative AI and carefully monitor the use of this powerful technology within our student cohort and over a period of time moving forward, we will formulate our own Policy to ensure we are maximising the benefits and negating the challenges for all students.
The Principal’s podcast for Term Three is available on the link below and references a conversation with Toolbox founders Ben Scholl and David Berlinski
It is wonderful to note the reputation of Oakleigh Grammar continues to grow both locally and overseas. This term we welcomed over fifteen new students and a number of new staff who are integrating well into our culture of warmth, kindness and friendliness. The demand for our school from prospective families is at the highest level it has been since the start of the pandemic. I thank all members of our community for embracing new families who have recently joined our school community.
Staff News
I am pleased to advise of the appointment of Ms Nitleen Kaur who has joined our Counselling team this week. Ms Sue Bassett is recovering from a health issue so at this time all students who access Counselling will be redirected to Ms Kaur. We continue to wish Ms Bassett a speedy recovery.
I have recently been reading an illustrated children’s book to students in Years 5, 6 and 7. The incredible story of “The Happiest Boy on Earth” by Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku, and I finish this edition of Grammar News with a quote from his book:
“Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.” Eddie Jaku
Mark Robertson
Principal