Principal's Report
Inter-cultural Capability Champion
On Friday Emma McCowan presented on her work over the past twelve months as one of the Department of Education and Training’s Intercultural Champions. Emma’s work includes fostering stronger connections with the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) based in Richmond, acknowledgment of country in signs at major entrances to MGC acknowledging the important role of Traditional Owners and Elders in our communities, the art project of poster photographs of our girls depicting the number of children on Nauru in 2018 on the gym wall and along with Rachel Robertson, Year 9 Leader, including inter-cultural understandings in the City Experience program. Congratulations to Emma and the teams she has inspired and lead throughout this on-going process.
Reconciliation Week, 2019 Theme - Grounded in Truth: Walk Together with Courage
In the vein of intercultural understanding we are celebrating National Reconciliation Week. It is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared history, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation. At Melbourne Girls’ we have a strong commitment to Aboriginal inclusion and recognizing Aboriginal culture as the world’s oldest continuous living culture.
Dance Showcase
Thank you to Georgia McGeechan for leading the Dance Showcase in the absence of Jordan Evans who is on leave. Georgia stepped into the lead role brilliantly and the outcome for all students was expert. Thank you to Anne Corry and Trevor Howlett for their tireless support of each performance and to our Year 12 student Coco Smith, who coordinated backstage with skill. All of our dancers performed brilliantly, with precision and joy on 16 and 17 May.
Confucius Classroom (CC) Network Meeting 22 May, 2019
On 22 May Lucy Chen and I attended the Confucius Classroom Network Meeting at Firbank Grammar School. Our relationship with Director Julia Gong who leads the Confucius Institute at the University of Melbourne is a very positive one. At the meeting each CC provides an update on the year’s work and discusses key topics. Our students of Chinese gain access to study tours and resources, including language assistants, whilst closely following the curriculum of both the VCE and Victorian Curriculum F-10. Many thanks to Lucy who leads the study of Chinese at the college with professionalism and great care, we are fortunate to work with such high calibre colleagues.
Celebrating Alumni
Congratulations to two of our stellar alumni! Please see a note sent to our Specialist Mathematics teacher, Mei Francis, from a former student, so heartwarming:
Hi Ms Francis,
I’m not sure if you remember me, but I was an old student of yours back in 2014 when I graduated. Back then I was trying to get into medicine and you encouraged me to let you know when I get in. I completed my Bachelor degree in Biomedical Science in 2017 and I’ve been studying medicine at Monash University since last year. I’m currently in my second year and will graduate in 2021. I’d like to say thank you for everything back in high school. It’s amazing how much you really appreciate maths once you’re not doing it anymore. Doing maths is more for the problem solving skills than the actual maths I’ve found. I do miss being able to differentiate some difficult algebra and being able to write the QED once you solve a problem. Again, thank you so much for everything. Hope you are well.
Kind regards,
Sepideh Roshanaei
Also, congratulations to Stanislava Pinchuk who has curated a current exhibition at the Immigration Museum! The exhibition explores the ways in which our bodies, voices and marks shape how we see ourselves and others. Documenting the Body: Curated presents local and contemporary perspectives on tattooing as it intersects with themes of immigration, journeys, the body, heritage and identity.
Many thanks to our community for all of your support which is appreciated by our staff and students. I hope to see many of our parents at the Trivia Night this Saturday.
Kind regards,
Karen