Welcome back to you all, and especially to our new families who have joined us this week. It is lovely to have you and your children with us.
As I write this I want to mention the early success of our team of students who have been competing in the Snow Australia Interschools competition at Perisher this week. Our girls have achieved some excellent results in the early part of the competition, including a significant number of medals already. Congratulations to all our students who are competing across the week.
As we start the new semester, I would like to highlight some of the events coming up in the calendar. On 28 and 29 July, we will hold the Encore Musical Theatre production in the Senior School Hall from 7.00pm. This event sees some of our best talent performing songs from a range of well-known musicals. The cost is $10 for parents, and free for students. There are limited seats available and guests may bring their own food and drink to enjoy during the show. While Friday is sold out, there are still some seats available on Thursday night which you can book by registering here.
Over the next couple of weeks, our Year 10 students will attend a leadership retreat at Green Hills on Monday 25 July followed by the Year 10 Careers Expo on Wednesday 3 August. Year 12 IB trial exams begin on Friday, 5 August and I wish our IB students all the best for these important benchmarking examinations.
This week we have asked for nominations from our Year 11 cohort for the senior student leadership positions for 2023. While it may seem early for many, we want to ensure all candidates get their opportunity to put their best selves forward and will work with students over the coming weeks to create their speeches, write their bios and deliver these to the wider senior school before voting later in the term. We are so very fortunate to have so many excellent candidates for all our available positions, and I wish all the candidates well in their preparations.
It has been lovely to have the students back on campus after the three-week break. Students travelled far and wide during the holiday period, and I have been catching up with a number who were fortunate to travel to the snow, a group of 30 students and staff who travelled to Arnhem Land for the final week of the break and many more who travelled interstate and internationally. The Arnhem Land trip was a real highlight for many of the staff and students and we look forward to resuming these trips each year post-COVID.
With the COVID numbers across Australia again on the rise, I ask that students consider wearing masks while inside for the next couple of weeks to keep themselves and our community safe. We know that the wearing of masks is effective in slowing the transmission of the virus, and while mask-wearing is not mandated we do ask students seriously consider wearing them when inside and in close proximity to other students. Masks can be purchased at Reception for $1 if a student needs one.
I hope everyone has had an enjoyable return to Semester Two and I look forward to another productive term ahead.
Ms Joanna Leaman
Acting Deputy Principal (Head of Senior School)