Introduction from Margaret van Meeuwen, Head of Senior School

Being post-COVID ‘match fit’

At a recent end-of-year school function when discussing the busyness of life, a parent used the expression that we are not yet ‘match fit’ to handle the resumption of events, functions, and meetings across the overlapping areas of family, personal and school life. It struck me that since the beginning of 2020 we have lived in a bit of a time warp, where cancellations, postponements and ‘let’s not even bother trying’ have been the norm. As frustrating as that has been, there was a level of pleasure too in not trying to do everything, meet competing demands of all facets of our lives, and perform at some kind of super level of perfection.

In 2022, apart from EOTC Week when our student and staff COVID numbers were at a peak, we have largely signed everything off. Balls, the Birthday Concert, House Music, award ceremonies and prize givings, sports events, exchanges and, finally, full school gatherings have slowly filled the calendars again. The Year 13 cohort will sit their first set of external examinations without the protective crash pad of UEGs (Unexpected Event Grades) and for many Years 11s and 12s, their first set of external examinations ever. They perhaps will think more longingly about that aspect of COVID!

This new normal is one that we create with the benefit of some of the COVID learnings. The wonderful Arts Awards and Showcase evening, for example, effectively combined two events (a showcase and a separate dinner in the School Hall, which we have long outgrown) and so halved both cost and time pressures for families. Using the beautiful Performing Arts Centre meant that there was no limit on who could attend, so whole families could be welcomed to share the skills and talents of the performers. Another advantage of this is that younger students have the benefit of seeing the senior role models and have some idea of what they can aspire to in their senior years.

This magazine will showcase many of the events from the second half of the year and certainly remind us that those events provide the glue that keeps us connected. One event that epitomises this is the Relay for Life that the Year 10s organise to fundraise for the Cancer Society. After a hiatus of two years, the relay was back in 2022 and proved to be a highlight for the year group. Over $83,000 was raised (well ahead of the $250 per head target the students set themselves), but in the words of dean Mr Neil Cheetham, the real highlight was being able to be together, to share experiences, to have fun and to demonstrate in a really tangible way the effectiveness of service learning in action.

So, we may not be ‘match fit’ to re-adjust to life post COVID, but we are certainly eager for the opportunities that are just around the corner.

This new normal is one that we create with the benefit of some of the COVID learnings.