Head of Campus
Welcome back MYP students!
Yesterday marked the joyful return of our Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 students into the halls of Blackhall Kalimna, and I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to hear the historic rooms full of life again. As you can see below, I managed to capture some of the sights through the day. What the photos cannot capture, however, is the feeling of being reunited.
The peculiar strangeness of this time is the experience of beginning together anew as the curriculum for the semester is winding up. We enjoyed a renewal of relationship and appreciation of group gatherings. So often the institution of school is a pacifying force, corralling individuals into docile forms. What we hope to achieve, however, is that there is something powerful about people being physically present in a place. We are able to see and be seen by one another more fully; we have greater potential for understanding.
Hades, the Music Room, the Staff Room, the Middle Lab and downstairs Kalimna have all been freshened by a facelift of new paint and furniture. Greg and Emma, our skilled and friendly Facilities Team, have been working hard to make sure students can feel that they are learning in a special place. My own children sometimes visit while I work during school breaks, and they liken our gorgeous mansions to places of fiction by C S Lewis and Enid Blyton. There are very few places in Australia where a person can engage in progressive learning in such a charming heritage setting.
Of course, we know what really makes Preshil special is the people. To take care of our people, one significant change that we must remember is the new ways of being to keep one another safe. These behaviours are outlined in our Protocols for the use of BK spaces document, which has been updated for the return to onsite learning. I recommend all students and families familiarise themselves with these requirements and hold one another accountable to them.
In finding the balance between community celebrations and safety precautions, I am tentatively excited to let you know that plans are afoot to hold a special event for students on our last day. This will depend, of course, on how well the return to school goes, our efforts to maintain a safe environment, the weather and external conditions. While we won’t be able to hold our beloved Winter Solstice, we will strive to find ways of amplifying the genuine pride we have in our shared identity.
I take heart that, as a school, we were able to heed early wellbeing advice and encourage our students to spend time away from screens during distance learning, rather than become ever more enslaved by the unblinking eye of technology.
Dan Symons
Head of Campus