From the Head

As this is the final eLink for the Term, I wanted to take one more opportunity to thank our school community for the good grace with which we faced the most recent remote learning period. Our staff worked incredibly hard to ensure that the delivery of curriculum was uninterrupted despite the turbulence caused by state-wide school closures, and students adapted, as they do, with minimum fuss. However, no amount of hard work or smooth adaptation can replace the value of face-to-face teaching and learning, and it has been a delight to be back at school this week. 

Yesterday we received updated Government advice related to school operations. The restrictions that impact us the most are that non-essential visitors continue to be excluded from school sites, and excursions are not permitted. Camps and overnight stays seemingly, counter-intuitively, are permitted, highlighting the unpredictable business of implementing COVID-19 restrictions. We are also unable to conduct school tours for prospective students and their families, which is a real hindrance, especially for independent schools.

On the upside, in Regional Victoria, outdoor and indoor contact and non-contact physical activity are permitted, and indoor and outdoor interschool sport is permitted for those competing or directly involved in supervision, subject to venue capacity limits. 

Pleasingly, assemblies are permitted when attended only by staff and students. School assemblies are one of those school rituals that promote togetherness and student voice. They also serve to mark time, including the start and end of school Terms. It is wondrous how a simple school ritual can come to feel like a privilege in particular circumstances and I look forward to the end of Term assembly next Friday. 

Senior School students have conducted themselves with exceptional maturity this week during examinations. Our Year 7 and Year 8 students participated in their first onsite Girton mid-year examinations. Practising long periods of intense concentration in silence will stand students in good stead as their examination skills develop over the journey at Girton. 

Dr O’Rielly’s column in this edition of eLink is compelling reading for parents and I am delighted that Girton parents will have the opportunity to hear from Dr Judith Locke next term. 

Please enjoy the long weekend and our relative freedoms as Regional Victorians. 

Dr Clayton Massey

HEAD