Principal's Report

In most cases summer holidays are anticipated and reflected upon with joy and happiness. Indeed, when I think about the various summer holidays that I’ve shared with family and friends, I find a smile coming over my face as I recall all the adventures and learning I’ve been able to engage in over the years. This summer was different though. Perhaps not so different for the beautiful land in which we live and play, but different because, as the news reports filtered through over the new year, we were confronted with stories that don’t fit with the relaxed nature of summer holidays in the coastal regions of South West Victoria. Personally, I found myself becoming paralysed as the continuous news updates reported on fire storms and then flash flooding and hail storms and dust storms and finally thick shrouds of smoke haze. I couldn’t turn it off in my mind – this was my beloved state ablaze, and yet I felt somewhat helpless to do much in the moment as our own pocket of geography around Warrnambool remained relatively unscathed.

Yet, mixed in with the reports of fires raging across bushland and rural properties, there were other messages and stories that caught my attention. Of incredibly brave volunteer fire fighters risking their lives to save the lives of others and the properties of even more. Of long lines of people waiting patiently to donate food and goods to foodshare so that others in need could have meals to eat this week and next month. Of tired community members making their way back into a blackened bush and rescuing the wildlife that remain. Perhaps most significantly for our school community was the news that came to us from Villers Bretonneux, a small northern French village of just over 4,000 people that happens to be the home of our sister school in France. Our sister school, Jacques Brel, worked with other schools in the area during January to raise over $30,000 to help rebuild Victorian communities impacted by the fires. These students from our sister school arranged a march of over 800 people last weekend to walk in solidarity with Australians impacted by the fires and even wrote and performed a song to pay homage to Australia (more information is featured in this edition). All of these acts of love and kindness are genuine, are real, and are offered freely to others not because people are being paid to do it, or because they’re close friends with the recipients, or even because they’ll ever meet any of those they’re supporting. They’re doing it because they see a need in others and their values call them to reach out and help.

And so, on the first day of school this year, I asked our students to reflect upon the community that we all wanted to be part of. One that is caught up in fear, as I was when I initially caught glimpses of the devastation happening right across the state (and country), or one that is centred in hope and kindness, as is witnessed by the acts of generosity that have been so freely offered by those near and far. It’s a rhetorical question of course – we all want to be part of a school community that cares for one another and shows kindness by default.  But it’s easy to want it – it’s quite something else to act it out.

Over the course of this first full week of classes though, I’ve witnessed on many, many occasions the positivity and kindness that I challenged students to embrace. So many of our staff have come to me this week and commented on how different the school feels, in a good way. Part of this is the fact that there’s no mobile phones in classes and in the yard. But part of this is the positive choices our students are making to support each other and to actively learn at their best. There is a great vibe about the place and I’m very confident that this will continue throughout this year.

Kind Regards,

Dave Clift - Principal