From the Principal

1.

3.

Welcome to 2020

This year PLC Melbourne proudly celebrates the 145th anniversary of its foundation on 15 February 1875 in East Melbourne with 60 eager pupils. We celebrated this special milestone at our annual Foundation Day Assembly by hearing our inspiring guest speaker, Old Collegian Kim Lowe (Stevens 1978), speak about ‘Partnerships for Protection’, a conservation organisation she has co-founded, to protect one of the world’s most important and threatened rainforests in North Sumatra.

As I listened to her passionate and balanced talk, I thought how gratified the pioneering generations of our College, would be to know that current students and Old Collegians still care so much about others and our natural world. They show courage and compassion in stepping out of their comfort zones and using their world-class education to make their school, communities and the world a better place.

This year has already been very challenging for Australians and their families who endured the catastrophic bushfires of earlier this year and our College community has worked hard together to raise money to support people and wildlife affected by these devastating events. The funds raised from our much-loved Twilight Picnic in February were donated to the bushfire effort.

We thank our wonderful PLC community and staff for their tireless work to make this year’s picnic, with its birthday theme, a very special celebration for the thousands who enjoyed the Norman Oval festivities.

The College year began, as always, with great excitement as all students prepared for the traditional House Concerts which unite girls across all forms in a huge creative exercise. Girls new to the College really love the opportunity to make friends across the years as they work in their House groups to produce superb original performances. When I have the pleasure to chat to Old Collegians, they often recall these dynamic concerts as the highlights of their school years.

PLC is a rich learning community and not only in the classrooms and laboratories. Music, art, debating, social service, drama, outdoor camps, specialist clubs and physical education have always been regarded as important aspects of the student experience at PLC. This is where invaluable, informal learning takes place and students develop special qualities and life-long skills. A PLC education has always been holistic and this has resulted in PLC graduates over the many decades being well equipped to face the many challenges of their respective worlds.

Mrs Elizabeth Ward, our visionary Principal from 1998–2006, was particularly passionate about the development of the whole student and oversaw the expansion of co-curricular activities. She was instrumental, with other Principals of girls’ schools, in the establishment, twenty years ago of Girls’ Sport Victoria. This year we celebrate PLC’s founding membership of this highly successful organisation which provides a huge range of fun and competitive weekly sporting activities, competitions and sports carnivals during the year. Participation in sport teaches co-operation, determination, persistence and resilience, all vital soft skills in today’s world.