Message from the Headmaster
‘Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ’
John 4:10
Dear Parents and Carers
As mentioned last week, the intersection of International Women’s Day and Harmony Week has been powerful in terms of the opportunity this has provided for messaging to our boys. The address to our Senior School Assembly by Zara Yee, Head Prefect of one of our partner schools Wenona, is printed in full below with her permission, and the kind assistance of the Principal of Wenona, Ms Linda Douglas.
International Women’s Day Speech for Shore School Assembly, Thursday 6 March 2025
Good morning Dr Collier, Ms Douglas, Dr Mansfield, Dr Gilmour, Mr Ticehurst, Staff and Boys.
My name is Zara Yee, and I am the Head Prefect at Wenona.
It is truly a privilege and honour for me to speak here today and so I thank you Dr Collier and Angus for inviting me.
But let’s call it what it is. I think this is a very unique opportunity for me, a girl from a school five minutes up the road, to come here and stand in front of a different school and speak to you regarding International Women’s Day. I truly hope I do give this opportunity the justice it deserves.
Before I move on, there is a critical factor I need to outline. What I say here today is my attempt to describe what International Women’s Day is for me. I will never claim to speak for my peers or teachers and never will I have the capability to speak for all women.
What is International Woman’s Day to me?
For me to define something of such calibre and to synthesise it to one or two sentences wouldn’t be accurate. So let me start with what it isn’t.
What is International Women’s Day not to me?
International Women’s Day isn’t the only day of the year where we praise the women in our lives, thank them and appreciate them, celebrate them and vouch for them.
International Women’s Day isn’t a day where we forget men, berate men, and bring them down in order to bring women up.
International Women’s Day isn’t a day where we assume that because we experience something one way, others have that same experience.
I say this because as a girl, this is my reality, and not just my reality. This is the reality of every female you know in your life — your sister, your mother, your cousin, your grandmother, your current or future wife and daughters.
We know by the age of 12 what it’s like to feel scared to walk alone, to feel scared that someone may spike our drink, to feel physically dominated, to feel objectified, to be forced into something we don’t want to do. But these experiences aren’t your fault as young men nor are they the fault of those girls. But it is my responsibility and your responsibility as humans to do something.
To be honest, this all sounds quite scary to me because although this is just the tip of the reality of women here in Australia, it is not elsewhere. Here, I am a 17 year old girl, I have the privilege of going to school, I have the privilege to play sport, I have the privilege to lead in a Cadet Unit alongside males.
But if I were born in another country, at 17 years old I would have numerous children, I would be in a marriage not of my choosing, I could be killed for reading, I wouldn’t be allowed to do a certain job because a man would do it better. It is scary because I will never understand the experience of countless women when sometimes we are made to feel like we should, like we are begged to fix things but never explained as to how we can accomplish them.
But I’m not expected to understand and nor are you. I am not perfect and that’s okay. I am not immune to making assumptions or making comments that I shouldn’t. It goes both ways, so I am sorry to you as a group of young men for my mistakes and contribution to sexism.
So, my solution? Firstly, as citizens of the globe we must educate ourselves. Secondly, as individuals we do the small things. Thirdly, as collectives we create change.
My first point is education.
Education is not the same as understanding.
The age-old saying ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’, now you can go walk in six-inch heels but you won’t know what it’s like to be a woman, and I will never know what it’s like to be a man. I will never know the societal pressure to be strong and harsh and show no emotion, I will never know the societal pressure to have to be six feet. To be honest I think I’ll forever be quite off that height, but never say never, touch wood, let’s hope.
What I am trying to articulate is that I will never understand what it is to be a man. You will never understand what it is to be a woman. And that is okay, these aren’t barriers rather outlets, so education is what we should focus on.
Being observant and learning and trying to understand is all that it takes. It may be a first step but it’s the most important one. The rest will come, fundamentally we are all human and that’s what matters.
My second point is the small things, the little actions that you as young men can take. To you they may seem small, but to us girls they can mean the world.
I want you to take a breath for a moment because I want you to make some promises. I don’t want you to make these promises to me, make them to yourselves, or make them to the women in your life or a role model.
Promise that you will always be respectful and act like proper gentlemen.
Promise that you will make the women in your life proud.
Promise that you will be curious and ask questions and learn.
Promise that when the time comes (because it will) you protect and care for women when they need it the most.
Promise yourself that you will keep other individuals, not just men, in line.
Promise to turn into beautiful capable men of empathy.
My third point is that as collectives we create change.
Something I’ve always envied about Shore is your brotherhood, especially regarding sport. I admire your passion for sport so much. You get around each other, you support each other, you step on the pitch, court or get into the boat and you are brothers because of the crest you wear on your chest. So, make change using your brotherhood. The way you would respond to a situation regarding your sister, mother or daughter is the way you respond to a mate’s loved ones. From there, it should be how you respond to and for a stranger. This culture you have surrounding sport is more powerful than you may realise — us girls especially at Wenona could take a few leaves from your book.
To conclude, something I often to say to the girls at Wenona is that if anything ever happens to them, as long as I’m here, I will be there to support them and have their back. Now that I have spoken here today, that extends to you.
If any woman, man or individual ever categorises you as something, blames you, or assumes something of you based on your gender or who you are as a person — that is not okay. It is not okay for people to preach about the rights and justice of a group when they too perpetuate stereotypes and hate. We are all perfectly imperfect.
And just when you thought I was out of promises I’ve got one more for you, and this one I want you to make to me. If you are lucky enough to have a mum or a sister or a grandmother or any central female figure in your life, when you go home tonight or when you next see them just give them a hug. You don’t need to say anything just give them a hug. And in return I promise that I will do my best to support the men in my life.
I thank you all for having me, stay safe and healthy, learn lots, be curious, be respectful, and keep your promises.
Have a nice rest of your week, thank you.
Zara Yee
Head Prefect, Wenona School
These words were powerful, and received with tremendous acclamation from our boys. They are a very helpful perspective indeed, which embraces a well-considered female view which is complemented by the multiculturalism of Zara’s ethnicity, hence also highly appropriate for our celebration at Shore of Harmony Week. Good manhood (to which we aspire for all of our Shore boys) does not engage in sexual harassment of women or in racist behaviour. It was Jesus who demonstrated inclusion of women and those of other ethnicities in a way which was so radical for the time, and to the astonishment of the woman he was addressing.
‘The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”… Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” ’ John 4:9-10
Dr John Collier
Headmaster
