From the Principal's Desk

“Success is measured by how the team works…”

With the Term now underway as I write this, I am focused on all that has already been asked of us, and all that we must engineer in the weeks ahead.

There has been a multitude of marvellous success stories shared on our Pittwater House Sporting Groups Facebook page through the recent Winter Recess and I could not be more proud of these students. There were some 49 students who competed at significant levels, right through to nationals. In addition, there were 31 of our students competing at the Snowsports Interschools at Thredbo. Congratulations to all these students and sincere thanks to the Staff supporting our elite athletes in many ways. 

The Winter Recess also saw 32 Cadets undertake their promotional courses here at the School over the first weekend of the break. They will no doubt wear their new rank with pride when they are announced. Our congratulations to you all.

The opening of Term Assembly is traditionally one where we celebrate our Foundation, now 62 years ago. Each year it is important to stop and reflect on the past and focus on our future.

Anyone associated with Pittwater House in the past 12 months knows all too well that foundations of a different variety have been very much our focus. Our major building works have required us to dig deep, in many ways… and in the process, the builders tunnelled in areas not seen since the original west and south wings were constructed. 

In challenging the students to reflect, I asked them to recognise that each student is a part of something incredibly special; our story of 62 years. And in this they are part of something greater than themselves.  

Our culture, our traditions and our foundations are about being inclusive and caring where everyone can find their niche and belong. And whilst we do not need to agree all the time with each other, we do need to respect each other no matter our differences. 

Our foundations and culture built through 62 years, and our reworked Core Values recognise that great things happen when we apply ourselves, knuckle down, and work with determination. In essence, when we roll up our sleeves and have a go. Pittwater House is a place where you have a voice and a sense of agency in your learning. And beyond this, where the academic focus will be enriched by the activities in which students engage. 

As our motto Semper Diligens says, we need to be always hard working… so as we begin this new Term, and Semester, I extoll every student to act with integrity, to do their best and not to give up… and that motto needs to be played out every day!

Everyone is continuing to build on our foundation. Each day all members of the Pittwater House community add another brick to our story.

I like to share each year on Foundation Day, a saying from the Buddhist scriptures that… “if you want to know the past, to know what has caused you, look at yourself in the Present, for that is the past’s effect. If you want to know your future, then look at yourself in the Present, for that is the cause of the future…

Each of us are custodians of our School, and it is incumbent on each one of us to ensure we leave the school better for our presence… whether it is as a student, a member of staff or a family. Foundation Day is a time to remember… and give thanks for whom, and what, we are. We celebrate a special moment in time, we reflect, we acknowledge all those who have been a part of our history and thank them for their contribution toward whom we are today. We need to remind ourselves of where we have been and encourage us to continue challenging ourselves with high expectations. Our heritage is enriched by our staff and students, and our culture, by their stories, and our future by their examples. And we do so in the knowledge that every one of us has a special debt of gratitude to people, processes and procedures that make our School. 

Every student and member of our community is making history, our history, every day.

Happy 62nd Birthday Pittwater House. 

Each year during our Foundation Day Assembly we like to acknowledge one aspect of our School in detail. This year we have focused on community and teamwork. When students arrived on Day 1, they all participated in creating a grid of coloured bricks in our School colours. The teamwork of this exercise demonstrated, in placing over 36,000 bricks in such a short period of time, a sense of community that we witness every day at Pittwater House. Included in this building projects were three members representing the Board of Directors through Mrs Connie Pople, the PHPA through the President Mrs Sheridan Millward, and Alumni through Mrs Sarah Smith, an inaugural member of the Alumni Association, and mother of the Head Prefect of the Grammar School, Levi.

The past 15 months have been challenging with the construction on our grounds and I wish to acknowledge the strength of our community in navigating the challenge with such positivity.

These individual grids when placed together represented our great School through the image of our crest. The building project, completed in such a short and meaningful way, will be on display in the foyer of the Hall for everyone to remember Foundation Day 2023. 

The Junior School celebrated Foundation Day in their own Assembly with Mrs Achurch taking us through the history of building works and sharing the outcomes of an exercise she led at the end of last Term. Students were asked to reflect on what they saw, they thought, and they wondered about our current building works. From some very thoughtful comments to delightful lines from our youngest students, all were engaged in a meaningful way. 

And of course, our Foundation Day Assemblies are always followed by the Foundation Day Relay. For many of us, it is our favourite event of the year. Congratulations to all our runners from our Kindergarten children right through each year group, to our House Captains. Again, it was a magnificent set of races, for the girls, and then the boys. Orrock took out the double, winning both races!

Thank you to all Years 7 to 11 families for your support of our unfortunate, but necessary Remote Learning in Week 3 as our builders undertake a particularly difficult and noisy period. As Mr Walmsley noted in his communique, the concrete internal staircases at either end of South Wing, will be removed making both South and West Wings inaccessible. However, the end is very much in sight. Then, the amenity for students will be wonderful. In Week 3 students will be following their timetable through Teams and for any student unable to satisfactorily work at home, we will be supervising students in the Hall. The Year 12 students will, of course, be undertaking their Trial Examinations, off site, through this time. 

And finally, please join me in welcoming our 15 new students and their families to Pittwater House, and make sure that we all are focused on ten weeks of learning, engagement, activity, and excellence. I look forward to welcoming you when you are next on Campus.

With every good wish.