From the Principal
Spring Dinner
Welcome to the final term
It was wonderful to see so many of our Arlington families at the Spring Dinner. It was a truly fabulous night, and the photos say it all!
We could not run this annual event without John Collins. Not only is he an innovative and talented cook, he inspires a remarkable commitment and performance from his students, many of whom have continued their involvement over the five years we have held these dinners. Thank you, John.
We were very proud to be able to showcase to our Arlington parents the achievement of these fine young people in helping bring together this event. Thank you to all involved.
There were many other members of staff who willingly stepped in to assist in the lead-up and in the clean-up. Natalie Kunst deserves a very special mention as someone who has only been in the School for a matter of months - her table settings and floral decorations were beautiful.
Greg McCarthy, Rob Gillett and Emma Pierce, our facilities team, worked tirelessly; lifting, carrying, setting up and then resetting. Uncomplaining, problem-solving; and, once again, Nerel Ezra and husband Danny Klotz were indispensable, Nerel in organising the silent auction and Danny providing expert help in the kitchen. Danny, together with John‘s imperturbable serenity, add to an almost eerie centre of calm, like the eye of the storm, at the heart of so much frenetic activity.
Thank you to Troy Wass, Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Karoline Kuti and Michelle Berner, for yet another wonderful program of music and to Jaye Morey, Fiona Williams, Kimberley Laurence and Kathy Bibby for hours of painstaking assistance with setting up. Special thanks to Shane Rose who stepped in at the last minute to take stunning photos on the night, some of which are featured on this page.
For me, this annual event showcases so much that is symbolic of the Preshil community.
The Spring Dinner offered the perfect opportunity to launch our major fundraising drive for a space the Secondary School has long dreamed of having – an Arts House. The event raised over $20,000 – a great beginning!
The Blackhall Kalimna campus needs a large flexible space – a centre where our art program, music and performance can flourish. Just as the Kevin Borland Hall is the heart and lungs of Arlington – an ever-changing and adaptive space that represents the life and ethos of the School, so too we need our own hall at the Secondary School.
Over the last eight years our small community has built a new secondary Library, carried out a significant renovation of the Kalimna building, the senior Art spaces and Science laboratories, completely refurbished Arlington House, completely rebuilt the treasured ‘Fives’ classroom and secured generous funding to construct an innovative passage and stairway to connect the Kindergarten to the Garden Room. Currently, we are finalising plans to have The Cage basketball/tennis court at Blackhall Kalimna transformed with the construction of a roof to turn it into an all weather court.
This term we will have a workshop to begin in earnest and we invite you, our students and our community to participate in this opportunity for the School to develop a brief so we can move forward with a long-term plan to raise the necessary funds to realise this vision by 2023. Invitations will be sent out soon.
I have no doubt that we can build a beautiful, inspiring space that gives expression to our enduring philosophy of collaboration, performance and community.
Marilyn Smith
Principal