SENIOR SCHOOL REPORT

From The Head Of Senior School Mr David Smart

Celebrating the life of the Senior School

2022 was a fantastic year in the life of the Senior School. The return of so many normal events and activities provided an opportunity for us all to regain a sense of community and enjoy so many important occasions that shape our school life. The highlight was the opening of the new Snow Concert Hall and Music Centre, the most amazing school facility. It has already had an incredibly positive and powerful impact on our weekly assembly gathering, which will be enormously beneficial in the future. The ability to have many wonderful concerts in a hall with amazing acoustics has also been a positive feature for our student and staff musicians.

From the beginning of the year, our School Captains, with the support of all of Year 12, prioritised four key initiatives that they were focussing on to bring positive change to the life of the Senior School. These included:

• Improving the sense of belonging that all members of our School feel

• Continuing to highlight the issue of mental health difficulties and how to receive support

• Fostering student voice at CGS; and

• Improving our awareness and action regarding sustainability.

Many powerful and positive messages and guest speakers provided clear insights in these four areas, and the development of a revamped and rejuvenated SRC committee model based on each year group provided the avenue for student voice to be much more prominent.

The unveiling of the “annual motto” for the year, “Be curious, not judgemental” provided each student in the Senior School opportunity to reflect on what it means to be curious. And also to understand that often judging others is not a way of being welcoming and including people in our community.

A wide range of other issues was also covered each week. Considering all these issues has enabled us to be a School that values people for who they are and celebrates differences rather than being threatened by them. We celebrated many important occasions as a school. Important celebration days such as ANZAC Day, Reconciliation Day, International Women’s Day, Harmony day, Are you OK day, Movember, Mental Health Awareness days, NAIDOC, and Remembrance day were marked and the key concepts of these days discussed in smaller groups. The annual ‘CGS Shave’ again took place early in the year, and our Year 12 students decided to support the work of the Sydney Children’s Hospital due to the strong personal connection they had with this hospital.

The sense of purpose, belonging, and connection with CGS that almost all students display is one of the most pleasing aspects of leading in this community, and it is one of our defining features. Adjustments for Year 12 students were made to still provide a meaningful and moving finish to their years at CGS, with the final assembly and march-out proceeding at the end of Term three. The whole Year 12 and parents Valedictory Celebration took place after exams and just before their formal. Whilst it must have been strange for students to put their winter uniform back on for one last time, it was a significant evening and a lovely occasion to recognise each student’s contribution to the life of CGS. The formal was also held at Old Parliament House at the end of November. It made for a very busy finish to the year, but one that was extremely important and valued by all.