From the Acting Principal

Striking a balance

Without a doubt, we are living in a period of extraordinary change. In schools, students are constantly changing, modifying their behaviours to adapt to new spaces, new classes, new interests, and relationships with teachers and peers.

Over their schooling career, students will flex and grow, morph and bend as they develop physically and mentally, and their connections, interests, influences and motivations also change. The challenge for many young people, and school leaders, is balancing these changes, or adaptations, with their school and broader community’s collective culture, expectations, values and virtues. As we adapt to rapid change and growth within our School, we must also respond to young adults’ increasingly complex needs and dynamics. The growing health and social concerns around vaping in Hunter schools (as reported in The Newcastle Heraldin mid-April 2021); the topical and genuine concerns around consent; social media use and abuse; and the issues around identity expressed by our young people require constant attention, adjustment and change to our policies, practices and programs. As a school, how can we ensure that we listen, respond and adapt to these changes while nurturing and maintaining our unique culture and values?

It’s about finding balance and using appropriate strategies and supports to steward our young people through to adulthood safely. At HVGS, students have a voice. They have a seat at the table and can take counsel with our School Leadership Team. Our Leadership Team and our Wellbeing Team make it a priority to meet with students, staff and parents to address the needs of our students and the broader School community.

Furthermore, the safety, wellbeing and flourishing of all students is our priority. Our policies, rules and expectations ensure that all students can thrive at school and in life.

Additionally, our community values open and honest dialogue and communication between students and their parents, so providing avenues for discussion regarding students’ and families’ issues in a safe and collaborative environment is essential.

Our responsibility is to nurture appropriate change, and to balance that change against our School community’s collective norms and expectations. This is challenging but necessary work, and sometimes it requires adjustments after change has been introduced. The recent change to the rules around hairstyles is one example after our students expressed a desire for more equity in this regard. However, like many changes in a large, complex organisation, it was met with a broad spectrum of responses. Further adaptations to this relaxation of our rules were necessary to ensure we remain true to our standards and community identity.

We have learned over the past 12 months that change is never static but always dynamic. However, our values and culture remain constant as a guiding force. Dealing effectively with change is vital in schools for students and leaders to adapt to internal and external issues and challenges. However, respecting our values and culture and finding that balance between change and our community’s collective expectations ensures that we can all thrive for the long term. Fiona Devlin Acting Principal