Principal's Report
Principal’s News
Below is an extract from my recent final assembly speech to Year 12.
Hail Year 12!
Hail is a word I learnt when I was at school when I studied Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. In that famous play, Julius Caesar is greeted with the words ‘Hail Caesar.’
Nice word that – ‘hail!’ It’s actually an old Scandinavian word meaning "health, prosperity, and good luck." So to the Year 12 class of 2016, “Hail!”. Hail is, of course, a vocal greeting. You don’t write ‘hail’ to someone. You have to say it, or call it out to them. It is a greeting of the voice. “Hail Year 12!”
Now hold that information for a moment; I want to come back to the word ‘hail’. But let’s think for a moment about our voices and how well we use them. By this I do not mean how well we sing or yodel, but how well we use our voices when we interact with each another. Our voice has enormous power – to express love and appreciation by saying ‘I love you’ or ‘thank you’; to save a life by calling out ‘STOP’; to build community and harmony with words like “Come and join us. We have a spare seat.”
We also have the power with our voice to create harm and unrest, and to hurt others. Often the greatest hurt we experience in life comes from the voice of another person. So Year 12s, as you leave us to embrace the next chapter of your lives, how can you make sure that you use your voices to speak powerfully and positively, so that the world will be a better place for others and for yourselves?
First of all, I think there are four ways of behaving that you need to resist.
1. Gossip - Speaking ill of somebody who's not present. It’s a horrible habit! Gossip causes a lot of grief and pain. Someone I know gave some very wise advice about gossip. “Whenever you hear it, she said, make sure you never pass it on. That way, the circle of gossip is broken. You have to be the one who ensures that the bit of gossip you hear dies with you then and there.” Always determine to break the circle of gossip.
2. Judging – Making a negative decision about something or someone. It is all too easy to judge others on what they wear, how they look or behave but I implore you to work at resisting this and be a person who strives to not make negative judgements about others.
3. Negativity - You can easily fall into this bad habit. My grandmother would always respond to “how are you going Grossmamma” (that’s what I called her), with “not so bad”, in a very forlorn voice. In the final years of her life, she became negative about absolutely everything. It became very hard to listen to her and, as a consequence, harder to spend time with her. I remember I said to her one day, "It's January 1 today," and she said, "I know, isn't it dreadful?"
Another form of negativity is the habit of complaining. Take some time to listen to other people - and perhaps yourself - and you may hear yourself complaining a lot. We complain about the weather (if it is not too hot it’s too cold), sport (How bad was our footy team on the weekend, and as for the umpires…) about politics (those politicians are really so useless…), even about school and teachers and homework and everything… Complaining is viral misery! It’s like a vocal version of the flu! Complaining makes the world an unhappy, dingy place. Complaining doesn’t spread sunshine and lightness in the world.
4. Excuses - The fourth bad habit is making excuses. We all know the person who likes to blame everyone else and make excuses and not take responsibility for their actions. “I did not make the netball team because the selection panel are biased. I came late because the traffic was bad”. Or your teachers’ old favourite: “I did no complete my homework because I the dog ate it.”
Year 12s, these are the four ways of behaving that I encourage you to avoid in terms of how you use your voice.
Conversely, there are four really positive concepts that you can embrace if you want your voice to be a powerful and positive force in the world. And that’s where the word ‘hail’ comes in: that ancient word which means to greet or acclaim enthusiastically; to wish someone health and prosperity and good fortune.
Year 12s, I want to take the four letters of that word to emphasise the four things that you can do to make your voices strong and encouraging.
The H – honesty; being true to what you say, being straight and clear.
The A - authenticity; just being yourself. A friend of mine described it as ‘standing in your own truth’, which, I think, is a lovely way to put it.
The I - integrity, being true to your word, actually doing what you say, and being somebody people can always trust.
And the L - is love. I don't mean romantic love; I mean always wishing people well, always looking out for the feelings and reputation of others, always choosing kindness over condemnation.
L is the most important letter of the word ‘hail’ because love tempers or modifies or controls the other three – honesty, authenticity and integrity.
Let me give you an example: absolute honesty may not be what we want on every occasion. My goodness, you look ugly in that dress! That may be true, perhaps, but love would soften such brutal honesty.
Tempered with love, honesty is a great thing. Likewise authenticity and integrity will be controlled by love, that commitment to always wishing people well, always wishing them health and good fortune.
So if you have the pleasure of seeing the play Julius Caesar, remember that word ‘hail’ - and determine as you look forward and move forward with your lives that it is your voice that will make this world a better place.
Student News
Brynnie Rafe
Brynnie’s entry entitled, All the Way Up has been awarded First Prize at the La Trobe University’s Young Writers’ Awards. Her story is included in this newsletter for you to read.
Lani Kasperovic and Tyla Gibson
Lani and Tyla took part in the ‘Schools Poetry and Short Story Competition 2016’ and have been informed that their pieces of writing will be published in a book titled ‘Word Zone’. In addition, they are in the running for prizes which will be announced later this month.
Neisha Hunter
Neisha Hunter has been successful in gaining a fully funded position in the December Earthwatch Student Challenge Program that will take place in South Australia looking at the Ecosystems of the Murray River. Flights, accommodation, food, insurance and all resources paid for!
Year 12 Celebration Day
On Monday 17 October the Year 12s had their final assembly at MFG. It was wonderful to see parents and friends also attending this formal event; your presence was appreciated – thank you! Our Year 12s showed their maturity and their wonderful sense of fun on Tuesday 18 October - their celebration day. They came dressed in a range of costumes, danced, laughed, took part in fun activities and were very inclusive, respectful and safe. There were a few clever pranks, one was decoration of the open area with bras and a banner saying – ‘thanks for your support’. The bras have now been donated to a worthy cause. I would like to thank our Year 12s for the respectful way they celebrated their school end and I commend the school leaders on the way they led these activities.
VCE 5.0
As I indicated in a letter to parents of students in Years 10 and 11, in order to support student learning in 2017 (and in the Early Commencement Program) VCE and VCAL classes will have 5 lessons per week. There will not be a Study Day once a fortnight.
Michelle Crofts
Prinicpal