Monday 29 October we held our annual International farewell evening.

We changed it somewhat this year to include awards for English Language Learners. There were speeches given by Ms Miller, Mrs Boomer and Pear Sae-lee, our International Prefect. Two entertaining performances were given by two groups. Monica Zhang, Sherry Wu and Teresa Wang who played the piano and did a Chinese dance. Sherry was dressed in traditional Chinese dress and Teresa was in more modern clothes and they danced together with traditional and modern styles. It was very interesting to see the two styles alongside each other. The Year 13 leavers had a production that was written and directed by Louise Lin. In this piece, there was acting, singing, dancing, and instrument playing with K-Pop, Thai, and Chinese songs.

All the students in years 10, 11, 12 and 13 who are leaving were farewelled with positive and personal commendations, and presented with a parting gift and certificate. Pear spoke about her experiences during her four and one quarter years at OGHS and how important it is to take the opportunities presented, to try something new and step out of our comfort zones.

The academic and personal qualities of our International Students and English language learners are truly commendable and we should think about how brave and resilient they are to live on the other side of the world from where they grew up, to transition to a new way of schooling and life, and to be so successful at this as well. We, the staff involved, feel honoured to be a part of such an important stage in their lives and would like to thank the girls and their families for choosing OGHS. We would like to sincerely thank the host families for taking care of our girls and providing them with loving and caring homes.