Three Simple Ideas for Success
I hope you and your family were able to enjoy some quality time together during the Summer Holiday. For many, I know that the unprecedented fires were a real and ongoing concern with smoke and high temperatures affecting almost everyone to some extent. With the daily headlines and numerous stories of devastation, it is natural that some students might feel unsettled or have residual concerns for the safety of loved ones that are difficult to contextualise. If this is the case for your son or daughter, please do let us know; our Student Wellbeing team will be more than happy to help them work through their concerns.
At the start-of-year Commencement Assembly last week I shared with the Senior School three simple ideas for success in the year ahead. I hope if you ask your son/ daughter they will be able to explain to you the importance of i) making your bed; ii) facing your sharks and iii) taking the first step. These are ideas I plan to expound in Newsletter articles over the coming weeks and collectively, they are touchpoints for our whole-school focus on ‘Growth’ in 2020.
As I write this first Senior School Newsletter of the new year it is the heavy rains, rather than the bushfires, that are posing some challenges. Over the last few weeks our staff have been busy making final preparations for the Year 7 and Year 11 Camps. The Year 7 Camp is a wonderful opportunity for new friendships to emerge as our young students spend a week cooking, camping and overcoming numerous challenges together. I have no doubt that as they return on Friday, many students will have become firm friends and will have plenty of stories to tell about their adventures at Camp Wombaroo. Indeed, when I visited them at the site, it seemed many had already made friends… with some of the local wildlife!
One of the things I like most about welcoming a new cohort of students to the Senior School is the myriad of new talents and passions they bring to the school community. William Willis is a Year 7 student who trains with Athletics Wollongong and Wollongong City. Last month he won gold in the under-14s Boys’ Discus, gold in Javelin and silver in Shotput at the ACT Athletics Championships. This month he will be up against strong competition as he competes at the Athletics NSW Junior Championships in Homebush. I wish William, his year group and indeed all of our wonderful Senior School students every success in embracing and overcoming the challenges that lie ahead of us in the year to come.
We are looking forward to our Swimming Carnival, on Monday 17 February, Week 3. Students are to come to school as normal on Monday morning and go to Mentor to get their names marked off. Students will travel to and from the carnival via bus and return to school by 3.10pm. Parents and Carers are more than welcome to attend the Carnival. Races will begin at 9.20am.
On Wednesday 5 February, 6 students represented TIGS in the Open Girls AICES Tennis Trials. They were up against the best tennis players across the state and performed admirably.
For more details and to see some photos from the day, visit the OLLE page.