Published on: 8 March 2018

I hope everyone enjoyed the mid-term break. I am pleased to note that it has been a successful start to the year and we now turn our gaze to the next six weeks of Term 1 and what we want the boys to achieve academically, in sport and the arts.  

Tonight our boys will take to the pool in the PSA Swimming Inters. Tickets are limited but fortunately we will have live streaming of the event for everyone to enjoy. The first event commences at 5.15pm and you can see all the action at 4style.com.au/live. Good luck to all the boys.

On a regular basis I attend the Walters Residential Community meeting. This support group comes together to discuss aspects of boarding, including food, outings and pastoral and academic support, with the Director of Walters Residential Community, Brad Downing. At our most recent meetings we have discussed the installation of air conditioning in Knutsford Boarding House, new king single beds for our Year 11 and 12 boys, and commencing this year, the academic mentoring program which consists of a tutor for each House from Monday to Thursday during prep time. A great initiative made possible courtesy of the Parents’ Association. This Friday, Brad and Jenny Watts, one of our extraordinary boarding Housemothers, will be heading to the Wagin Woolorama where I know they are looking forward to making contact with current, past and prospective families as well as old boys. 

This morning we celebrated International Women’s Day with a short video featuring some of our students talking about diversity, gender parity and the significant females in their lives. It is wonderful to have women in our lives, and today I acknowledge my mother, wife and daughter who have all enriched my life. To all the females in our school community – I want to recognise all that you do and thank you for your contributions.

The School is currently discussing with Methodist Ladies’ College a collaboration that would result in the best aquatic precinct of its kind across independent schools in Australia. For more information please see my recent announcement.

I look forward to seeing all our Year 6 parents this Sunday at our Canberra Sundowner commencing at 5.30pm in the Chapel.

A reminder that if your son is in Year 6 and you would like him to sit the scholarship examination on 24 March, you will need to complete an application form. The scholarships are for boys entering Year 7 in 2019. Scholarship tests, unlike classroom assessments, are not curriculum based and do not test the ability to retrieve learned knowledge. They assess proficiencies like the quality of original ideas and how students organise their thoughts. Click here for all our scholarship application details.

Alan Jones
Principal