3 minute read
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Our Year 9 Wandering Spirit retreat and Year 5 and 6 camps able to take place at our newly refurbished third campus, Yeagarup.
Advertisement
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Girls that lift girls, become women that lift women.
At St Hilda’s, our all-girl environment is our greatest strength. As many of you know, I am a proud feminist and believe in equality between genders. St Hilda’s celebrates girls, women, their identities, knowledge, skills and strengths, and empowers everyone to realise their full potential and rights.
If the last two years have taught us anything, it is that our girls need to thrive in uncertainty. St Hilda’s believes passionately in the development of leadership skills, digital literacy, communication, emotional intelligence, entrepreneurship, global citizenship, problem-solving and teamwork to ensure that our girls have the skills to thrive in an ever-changing landscape and make a positive difference for good.
It’s with no great surprise that our ESSTEAM pilot program in Year 5, 6 and 10 this year has been a huge success. It has cemented the School’s position to ensure we are at the forefront of education and leading the way for other schools. Forward-thinking to provide girls with real-life skills that they will need to thrive and shape their world beyond the school gates. So it gave me immense pleasure to announce this term that we had achieved our target of $2 million for our ESSTEAM Studio, which is well underway and progressing on time for a Term 1, 2023 opening. This is an incredible achievement by the St Hilda’s community – past, current and future and I’d like to thank everyone who shared our vision to help bring the ESSTEAM Studio to life by donating to this campaign, especially School Foundation who matched the $2 million, dollar for dollar. I can’t wait for our students to immerse themselves in this fabulous space and program.
We were particularly excited about the commencement of our programs at Yeagarup this semester, with our Year 9 Wandering Spirit retreat and Year 5 and 6 camps able to take place at our newly refurbished third campus. Yeagarup provides the girls with the opportunity to extend and challenge themselves, away from family and in a natural setting, which is an important learning that they will take with them for the rest of their lives. Through the school newsletter this semester, we have shone the light on some of the exceptional leaders at St Hilda’s from Art, Music, Science, Maths, English, Sport, and Outdoor Education. We are blessed with exceptional staff who give tirelessly to provide the best educational experiences they can to the students in our care. Our staff are strong role models for our girls who demonstrate the learning characteristics that we admire in our girls and understand what’s needed for girls to thrive.
St Hilda’s teachers inspire, motivate and challenge young minds, modelling resiliency and perseverance and helping all of our students find their passion, whatever that may be.
St Hilda’s Reimagined, our strategic plan launched in 2021 was a 12-month journey of research, design, consultation and delivery. It is a forward-thinking, ambitious blueprint designed with the 2030 graduate in mind. In August, we were thrilled to be recognised at the 2022 Australian Education Awards as the winner of the Best School Strategic Plan Award, hosted by The Educator. I would like to thank staff, students past and present, parents, School Executive and School Council for their input and opening our eyes to future possibilities.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and joyous festive season and thank you for being a part of the St Hilda’s community. I hope you enjoy exploring the wonderful opportunities and exceptional achievements here at St Hilda’s as you read through this edition of the Ammonite. I look forward to leading St Hilda’s in 2023 and continuing to spark extraordinary futures for our students.
Fiona Johnston Principal
