Year 10 Outdoor Education Camps

We are delighted to have completed this rare and memorable experience for our Year 10 students before the onset of the recent weather event. The girls enjoyed a variety of conditions, challenges, personal development and team-building in the amazing Canterbury High Country environment. We thank the tutors, Year 10 Dean, Nadja Zeitheim, EOTC Coordinator, Emma Beech, and OENZ, for the quality organisation and care of our students.

UPCOMING DANCES

As many of you will be aware the Dance Season is upon us. This is a time of year eagerly anticipated by our senior students and we hope that these evenings are enjoyable for all. To ensure that things run smoothly for all those attending, we would ask that all students and parents carefully read the procedures and protocols which are being sent to you.

Head of Community, Annabelle Schneideman and her Council have put a lot of thought, time and energy into the preparation for the Senior Dance on Saturday 12 June at Majestic on Durham, and Mr Kimber and Year 11 Form Captains are working feverishly towards the Semi-Formal on Saturday 19 June at Hagley Oval. We thank them for their efforts and dedication.

We do ask your support in seeing these as low-cost and fun evenings. With the emphasis on enjoyment, inclusivity and ‘being you’ (even when in costume!), we openly discourage spending large amounts of money on expensive outfits and beauty treatments.

Girls must fulfil all sporting and other school commitments on these Saturdays.

Yes, Yes, Yes at the Court Theatre

Years 11, 12 and 13 students and accompanying staff found this performance about consent (and a range of other current issues) to be powerful, engaging, relatable and highly relevant. English, Drama and Health teachers and students are actively referring to the performance in their current learning and in preparation for assessment. It has also facilitated conversations – hopefully with you as well - about the reality of young people’s lives, what healthy relationships can look like and how they can be empowered to speak out.

Peggy Orenstein, American researcher, journalist and feminist, highlights the need for parents to speak openly with their children about sex and what appropriate behaviour and personal contact look like, in order to give them the confidence to know what healthy and consensual relationships are and what their expectations should be. If parents don’t educate teens about sex, Orenstein warns, the mainstream media and pornography will, leading to unequal relationships and risky behaviour.

Many parents only talk to their daughters about the risks they may encounter, says Orenstein, placing all of the onus on them, as girls, to act responsibly. What we should also be doing, she argues, is talking to our sons about equality, respect and healthy relationships, and modelling how we should treat each other.

Be in touch if you’d like our support with this.