Principal's Report
Newsletter August
Yes, it is that time of the year again. That time when we try and avoid the ‘baccilus influenzae’, known affectionately as the ‘flu’ and understood by ordinary mortals to mean a virus spread by contagion from person to person.
In fact, influenza simply means influence, but we continue to use the Latin form influenza. I suspect that’s because doctors could hardly diagnose a patient’s complaint as a bout of influence and still expect to be paid!
The curiously named ‘flu’ is a reminder that we are constantly subject to influence in many areas besides physical health. Indeed, many of the elements, good and bad, that make up our character and personality are the result of our contact with other people who already possess them. The most potent form of influence is spread in the home, where from birth the child is exposed to her parents or to those who care for her. Our personalities are largely shaped by those childhood influences on us in the home. We pick up our values, our ideals, our patterns of behaviour, the way we speak and so on, from what grown-ups in our lives impress upon and model for us.
At school, the child learns more from what her teachers are – their quality of life and character, the way they conduct themselves, the things they care about – than from what they actually convey in terms of formal instruction. And for the rest of her life, her beliefs, opinions and many of her actions are going to be influenced by other people with whom she has contact.
There is both worry and consolation here. A London journalist writes of a man he hardly knew and had not seen for three years, who greeted him in a New York hotel. The man remarked that when they had last met he was terribly depressed, but something the journalist had said had cheered him up and sent him home with a much lighter heart. The journalist, who had no memory of the conversation, says he afterwards asked himself an important question. If he had cheered a person up without knowing it, how often might he also have unwittingly depressed someone?
The possible impact of our unconscious influence is a sobering thought. Yet it is also a hopeful one. Ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary ways may have an influence for good which is beyond calculation.
Staff News
- Wendy Kerry and Stuart Myers are on Long Service Leave this term.
- Robyn Myers is our acting Assistant Principal while Fiona Taylor is on leave.
- Robert Turner has returned to school after extended leave and we welcome him back to our community.
Student News
Brynnie Rafe is involved with the State Library‘s prestigious literary award for Young Adult fiction which applies both in Australia and internationally. Hundreds of young people from all over Australia apply to be a judge for this award and this year Brynnie was one of 6 selected.
She has been required to read through the long-list of 20 books and, along with her fellow judges, she will decide which ones to put forward for the final short-list. As part of her program of activities as a judge, she has been interviewed by the ABC TV’s “Book Club.” This will be broadcast as a web episode on iView and extracts may be aired on the TV show too.
The State Library’s Centre for Youth Literature was so impressed with her interview they have asked Brynnie to interview a visiting American Young Adult author and then to chair a live discussion (with an audience of 300 people) as part of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival!
Brynnie has also been awarded a highly competitive scholarship to visit the Indonesian consulate in Canberra as part of the Independence Day celebrations.
MFG 60’s Night
What an amazing evening we had at the 60’s night on Thursday 11 August. The students and staff involved deserve to be commended for their wonderful entertainment I was so proud of my staff and students.. It was delightful to see so many parents and family members there too. Thanks everyone for your support of this event.
Michelle Crofts
Principal