Principals Report 

Although we may now be fully operational as a school with all year groups back onsite, we’d be foolish to think that the impact of the last two years has completely gone away. We are still very much in the transitionary period with the dust settling on so many aspects of our lives as we come to terms with so much upheaval. We will all have changed- however slightly- as a result of those prolonged periods of isolation; as a result of the distance that was temporarily created between ourselves and the people that we care for; and as a result of the natural anxieties of not knowing what will come next after our lives had seemed so definite and fixed for so long. 

For staff, students and their families, it is clear that our social brains have had to be rewired in order to teach and learn and interact and work within online platforms. Being chained to a device is not our natural state as human beings- above all things we need other people to challenge us and help us grow. Whilst I have always known that exam results are not the only measure on which to define success, I have become acutely aware of the importance of schools as the social centers of our students’ world. Over the course of the next 12 months, we need to recognize our need to adapt and find ways to help all students reengage. In the long-term, we know that they will ‘bounce back’ and will benefit from the resilience that they will have developed as a result of Covid, but for all that they will eventually gain, they will have lost so much. As a school community, we cannot ignore our immediate need and we must prioritize the wellbeing of our students, families and staff as we rewire our brains back to being around people again. This must be done sensitively as no two experiences will have been the same. Additionally, there will be changes that have not surfaced yet and we must be adaptive to our students’ wellbeing needs. 

If 2022 is to be about anything, it has to be about reconnection and engagement; of pride and agency; of respect, excellence and determination. The growth data and academic achievement of our students indicate that we are moving in the right direction- even in spite of what they have been through. Yet, understandably, some students do not feel as connected to their school or each other as they could. This is where we must start to rebuild their social lives to help them gain greater confidence in themselves as learners. Community is all important at Woodmans Hill and we have a clear plan of what we need to do to get back to a better ‘normal’.

And so the healing process has begun for Woodmans Hill as we prepare for students to attend camps we have been forced to postpone; as sport resumes to provide the opportunity to challenges’ and compete; and as we prepare for the arrival of next year’s Y7 cohort. 

And like the inevitability of the changing of the seasons, as one year group arrives, another prepares to graduate and leave us. Our Year 12 students have been astonishing over the course of the last month. They are the 25th senior year group I have worked with in my career and, in all honesty, they have to be one of the best. Their support of themselves and each other has been staggering and their willingness to come into school and receive the additional support and feedback from their teachers has been incredibly impressive. I am so proud of each and every one of them who has dug deep and kept moving forward.  To even graduate in 2021 is such an achievement, but to do so in the manner that they have is pretty mind-blowing. They have set a new standard for our students in the way that they exemplify our values. I know our VCAL students will be amazing ambassadors for our community in the workforce and the growth that they have all undergone has been phenomenal. I am so excited to be attending their graduation next week and honoured to be the principal of such amazing young adults and I know the success that they will all achieve in their lives is evidence of what can happen if you don’t give up on your dreams.

Stephan Fields

Principal