Leadership & Engagement
College Captain address to Welcome Assembly
Welcome to 2020, a new year and a new decade.
I know Ailish has already done a great welcome but I would also like to quickly welcome our Year 7s. I hope you have had a fun first few days and enjoy your time here at MGSC and take advantage of everything this school has to offer you.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my fellow Year 12s. As Drake once said "we started from the bottom now we’re here." We have made it. With 259 days until our Celebration Assembly, it is safe to say we are finally on the home stretch and I couldn’t be more proud of you all. However, although this is an exciting start to the year for us all here at MGSC with house events, SRC free dress days, camps, formal and other events to look forward too, I know everyone would have heard about the bushfire crisis Australia has faced this summer.
Many Australians have had a hard start to their 2020, being evacuated from their homes over the new year period. In total, more than 17.9 million acres have been burned across Australia, with homes, animals and vital habitat all destroyed.
I would like us all to take a moment to think about anyone in our school community who was directly or indirectly affected by these devastating fires. Crises like these put our lives into perspective and allow us to appreciate how lucky we all are to live here and be a part of such a supportive school.
The unity Australia has shown over the past months to support their fellow Aussies affected, is a true representation of the Australian spirit. This is the spirit we want MGSC to have this year and for years to come. A school community is not made up of separate year levels, and separate groups but a community of young women who support each other, learn and grow together. By being good friends not only to your friendship group but to everyone. Checking in on each other through stressful periods. By asking the girl sitting by herself if she wants to come sit with you, we will further develop the supportive school we have. A great way to doing this is through house events. Having a house spirit and competing for house points will create friendships within your house group and outside of just your year level.
Although we are all in different year levels and it seems as if these separate groups are completely different, something I have learnt through the music department, is that some of the people you will connect with most and create the most long lasting and beneficial relationships with are not in your year level. This year, I challenge you all to talk to people in other year levels, get to know everyone in this school and share advice with one another, because after all like High School Musical taught us “we are all in this together”.
Thank you.
Ava Jaconelli
College Captain
SRC President address to Welcome Assembly
To the Year 7s and all of the new students who haven't met me yet, welcome. My name is Isla McAllister and I am your SRC president for 2020. The past six weeks for me have been vastly different to the past five summer holidays which mainly consisted of sleeping until lunch, binge watching Netflix, going out for brunch, going to the beach, having all the time in the world on my hands, and my favourite one…not having set meal times and snacking whenever I want. Not to say I didn't have a restful holidays but I would have to consider the past six weeks a little bit of a game changer for me. I know that for most of you, only a couple of days ago we would still be in bed at this time but I hope you can listen to what I have to say.
We are all extremely lucky. I know it may not seem like it on the first days back at school but us being here will mean a lot to you in the future. I’m one of those nerds who already loves school but I can assure that you will be thankful and grateful for the memories you make here.
I don't know if any of you made new year resolutions but I think it’s time to get on that 'new year, new me' attitude. Let’s make this year a year of gratitude. It’s easy to say that and hypothetically commit yourself to sitting down at the end of your day and writing down three things that made you happy that day but let’s be real, not many of us actually do it. This doesn't have to be an every day thing but I think the true key to happiness is practising being happy.
I know I'm only 17 but so far I think I've developed a pretty good idea about the pathway to happiness. This is something you regularly hear at the start of a year. That’s right goal setting. I did some of this at the start of the year and my top three were:
1) Get a good ATAR
2) Save enough money for a car
3) Save enough money for travel
They sound pretty generic don't they? These aren't lies, these are goals of mine but they're big ones. The thing that usually drives us away from setting goals and going through with them is that they are so big and seem really unachievable in that moment. We need to be making smaller goals. Ones that are achievable.
For example, Year 7s . I remember how daunting it was stepping into a school with classrooms that had names and the weeks of asking random students and following someone who looked familiar hoping they were in my class, but once I got the hang of it and then became that person who could help a fellow lost student it felt good. A goal I recommend is to learn where the classrooms are. It'll make you feel good.
Learn the bell times, it'll make you feel good. Learn the lyrics to the school song, it'll make you feel good. These little successes are the things that get you through the day, subconsciously you're proud of yourself and you feel good. Without knowing, they will help you achieve that big goal that used to be so scary and everything will fall into place.
2019 may have not been your year but why should that restrain you from making 2020 the best yet. Now the SRC team is still putting together the final dates, themes and allocated charity for when we celebrate our first free dress day of 2020. Here's a goal for everyone. Next time you see a gold coin, that is yours please hold onto it. When the day comes you can hand it in to my amazing SRC team knowing that it's going to a good place and trust me, it'll make you feel good.
Thank you.
Isla McAllister