P&F Guest Speaker Series

St Hilda’s secured six adolescence experts to speak to the School community over the past year.

Following a request for support of a series of Guest Speakers to provide parent education on topical issues, the St Hilda’s Parents’ and Friends’ Association agreed to fund relevant guest speakers for parents and daughters. As a result, the P&F Guest Speaker Series was instigated.

“The P&F Guest Speaker Series provided an assortment of speakers who shared their knowledge and expertise to current parents, prospective parents and parents from the wider community,” Mrs Kiepe said.

“It is appropriate to acknowledge the generosity of the P&F, in their response to my proposal put forward at the 2017 Annual General Meeting,”

Journalist and author Madonna King was the inaugural speaker in September 2017, and fittingly rounded out the Speaker Series in September 2018.

King is the author of ‘Being 14: Helping Fierce Teens Become Awesome Women’, which features interviews with Mrs Kiepe.

“The School is committed to providing the most recent research on how girls think, learn, and grow, and what the practices might be for preparing them for an ever-changing future,” Mrs Kiepe said.

“When my career in the teaching profession began in the early 1980s, I never imagined the current world where teachers and parents are confronted by the issues of sexting, online grooming, naked selfies, cyber-bullying and so on,” Mrs Kiepe said.

“The challenges I faced as a 14-year-old are vastly different to those faced by the post-millennials. Smoking and illicit cannabis use by teens is now at its lowest rate since records began, however, the new reality of 24-hour connectivity can rule (and ruin) the lives of our teenagers. It impacts their sleep patterns, academic results, friendships, self-perception and damages mental health. It is so important that parents and educators work together to learn the most effective ways of managing these ongoing challenges.”

Adolescent alcohol and drug expert Paul Dillon visited in March this year, speaking to students and parents separately, followed by bestselling author and ‘girl champion’ Dannielle Miller in April.

“From a student’s stance, I think they have this “I am not alone realisation moment”,” Mrs Kiepe said. “So, when Dannielle Miller is talking about the polarising angst versus happiness moments, a girl can click with that and begin to understand that it’s fairly normal for adolescent girls to experience the emotional rollercoaster ride from time to time.”

Rebecca Sparrow, another accomplished Australian author and columnist whose expertise lies in teenage girls’ behaviour, spoke at St Hilda’s in May, and Graham Hyman spoke to parents about strategies to understand their emerging teenagers in July.

The West Australian columnist and CEO of Nature Play WA Griffin Longley spoke in August about the importance of letting kids take (safe) risks, and Madonna King spoke for the second time in 12 months at St Hilda’s in September.

Mrs Kiepe said she was pleased St Hilda’s was able to secure such highly revered experts to speak to students, staff, parents and the wider community.

“Parents who know what to expect in the adolescent years can cope with it better,” Mrs Kiepe said.

“I also believe the more you know, the better you can prepare, so hearing from experts really can be beneficial for parents presenting consistent and realistic expectations of their teenage daughter.”

“As a St Hilda’s girl, I believe that our students are supported by a strong proactive pastoral program that focuses on Student Wellbeing,” she said.

“We anticipate the social and emotional challenges of childhood and adolescence and equip our students with strategies to deal with situations when they occur. St Hilda’s wants to develop girls who have tenacity, confidence and compassion.”