Michele Marquet, Acting Head of School

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Friday, the Senior School’s Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, started its glorious run and what a joy it is! It is a truly impressive collaboration between our Music and Drama departments, as well as our stage performers and background crew, not to speak of the special relationship that builds between audience and performers on any given night.

We often talk about teamwork being something that our children can learn via playing a team sport, which is undoubtedly true. But we can certainly learn those same invaluable lessons through engagement in the Arts.

Participating in an ensemble production takes skill far greater than just memorising your lines or music. You have to learn how to work with one another, to be generous and flexible, able to pivot in the moment to ensure the performance is a success. Fast forgiveness of errors and creativity to cover mistakes are skills that every performer has to hone regularly, for themselves, but more importantly for their fellow cast or orchestra members. The performance as a whole is more important than the individual. Cast, crew and musicians are always aiming for a certain synergy and synchronicity that will elevate the performance to something beyond technical accuracy and towards genuine artistry.

Juggling the workload to prepare for a full-scale performance while making sure class work and other commitments are maintained takes organisational and, occasionally, top notch negotiation skills. Students need to exercise patience, forbearance and kindness – both with themselves and others!

 Our cast, crew and orchestra and the extraordinary staff who have guided them in this journey deserve our unstinting thanks and praise. It is wonderful to see so many of our students fully engaged in such an enterprise, thrilled to be part of the performance, but also practising beneficial skills for life.  I hope many of our families are able to attend one of the final few performances, tickets are available here, and enjoy the magic created by our very talented students and staff.

As we work towards ensuring the best outcomes for all our students, the School has engaged the AIS NSW to conduct a full review of the Senior School’s Learning Support area to ensure best practice and future planning. The School’s priority is the wellbeing and education of each of its students, so we want to strengthen how our Counselling and Wellbeing teams can work effectively with our Learning Support team. To ensure a comprehensive review, the AIS NSW will be conducting feedback interviews with a cross section of staff, students and parents. In addition, the AIS NSW wishes to survey Senior School parents generally to collate as much data to provide far-reaching and all-inclusive feedback to the School. I invite all Senior School parents to participate, this is not exclusive to families with students who engage Learning Support. I thank you in advance for participating and for helping us develop our strategy to enable all students to succeed. This is a very important undertaking, and I am grateful for your time and engagement.

Staff News
After 6 years of dedicated service to the School, Peter Young has announced he will be leaving us at the end of this year.

In a complex and vital role, Peter has endeavoured to care wisely and well for our students, supporting the staff who teach and look after them pastorally, as well as their families. We thank Peter for his unstinting efforts and wish him great happiness as he moves into a more relaxed stage in his life!

Mobile Phones
As we noted earlier this year, there has been much research come to light about the impact of mobile phone usage on young people. Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation has given us all pause to think around how we best help our children navigate their online world, especially in the younger teenage age group. The School is looking to examine its current practices around mobile phone access and usage, particularly as it applies in the Senior School context. Part of that review will involve seeking feedback from families, as well as students and staff. We will consider our results in light of the current research and then determine any changes to practice in due course. Shortly, families will receive a quick survey to give them an opportunity to provide their perspective.

Best wishes,

Michele Marquet
Acting Head of School