3 minute read
From the Principal
The beginning of each new school year at PLC brings with it excitement and the much-loved traditional events which connect students, staff and parents to the long and illustrious history of our College.
This year it was particularly meaningful to be able to celebrate together after the difficulties and uncertainties of last year due to COVID-19. I so enjoyed welcoming new students and their parents to our warm, caring school community and seeing the joy as existing parents and students reunited at welcome events, special investitures and assemblies.
With the cancellation of so many school and community events last year, we have all learnt to really appreciate these opportunities to gather again this year. There have been some disappointments, such as the cancellation of our annual Twilight Picnic, but we understood that this was necessary and turned our energy to celebrate in smaller, more personal and COVID safe ways where we could.
Fortunately, we could still hold our annual Foundation Day Assembly where we commemorated the founding of PLC on 15 February 1875, 146 years ago in East Melbourne.
Dr Valerie Sung from the Class of 1994 is an internationally acclaimed consultant paediatrician and senior researcher and was our esteemed speaker. She epitomises the pioneering spirit of PLC students who use their first-class education, natural abilities, empathy and tenacity, to make a difference in the world around them, often in the scientific and medical fields previously dominated by men.
PLC was founded by the Presbyterian Church, whose members wanted to provide their daughters and other young women of the time, with “as high an education as their sons are receiving at such institutions as the Scotch College, the Grammar School, and the Wesley College.”
This was to be a school which challenged stereotypes, where girls would learn Greek, Latin, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, subjects which would qualify them to attend university alongside male students and be able to take up serious careers. They were no longer confined to traditional female subjects like dancing, sewing and sketching.
The establishment of PLC transformed the education of young women in Melbourne. Like those first 60 students, young women over the decades have continued to benefit from that early commitment to give girls attending PLC the best, most forward looking education possible. Staff at the College have always been aware of the latest developments in curriculum and co-curricular studies and activities and have imbued in their students a love of learning and intellectual curiosity.
We celebrate the achievements and resilience of our Old Collegians whenever we can. They are powerful role models for our current students. Valerie spoke openly about the challenges of her long years of study and the rewards of achieving family-work balance.
She has shown extraordinary commitment in her clinical work and in researching the best care for children with hearing loss, as well as infants suffering from colic and other health conditions. She was awarded a L’Oreal-UNESCO Australia New Zealand For Women In Science Fellowship in 2019 for her life-changing research.
I was also very happy to recently welcome another special visitor to our College, Miss Helen Holiday, the niece of Miss Ruby Powell, who was a much respected Principal of PLC from 1954-1968. She generously donated several of Miss Powell’s retirement presents from PLC to the College and many personal items which reflected her Aunt’s outstanding contribution to the development of PLC, especially her strong leadership during the relocation to the Burwood campus from East Melbourne.
Our College year has started very positively and despite the recent lockdown, we feel confident that the College is in a strong, prepared position to cope with any of the uncertainties and challenges that lie ahead. I thank the students, staff and families for their continued support and cooperation as we move forward together.
Cheryl Penberthy Principal
