From the Principal

It was timely that some of the Olympic Games took place while so many in the Trinity Grammar School community were in a 14-day quarantine period. What a worthy distraction it proved for many as we swiftly fell into the four (or five!) year rhythm of becoming instant experts in relatively obscure sports. Whereas I have not ridden a BMX since around the time Nicole Kidman popularised them, I found myself still prepared to cast the same sort of ‘knowledgeable’ opinion regarding the performances on offer as I have been guilty of applying to diving or European handball in previous Olympic Games.

A distraction from the challenge of a graver form of lockdown from those we have had before was welcome. While an odd, less festive version of the Olympics played out in Japan, as a school community we struggled with the suggestion of the flagging engagement of students, the challenge for staff to manage their own realities while striving to deliver a Trinity education, the compromised working lives (and income for many) of families and the very real concern for those among us who contracted COVID and became ill. Ten students, ten staff and at least eight ‘household contacts’ were infected and had various experiences of illness, including hospitalisation for a few towards the end of our ‘cluster’s’ active cases. All are now well.

As I write this we are still in the ‘lighter’ form of lockdown and uncertain of the future, again, for our students. This year’s Year 12 was, of course, last year’s Year 11. They have spent a good deal of time in an alternate version of schooling and societal norms. They have been asked to thrive in an environment in which their adult mentors and family are not soundly firm footed. It makes their ongoing achievements all the more impressive, because they have thrived in many ways.

Undoubtedly, it has been a struggle. Adolescent psychologist Andrew Fuller, when writing to young people recently said in an understated way, ‘It is unlikely that you will look back at 2021 as the best year of your life.’ Despite the apparent grimness, there has been a vivid pragmatism in the face of the loss of keenly sought-after events – sport at our highest level, concerts, the Formal, Strictly Ballroom (the musical) and so on. It seems to me that, while some are coping better than others and the concerns are real, they have been able to face into the wind and cope when others around them have struggled when worrying for them.

Fuller stressed that ‘life won’t always feel like this.’ He reminded them that a century ago, the Spanish influenza virus devastated the world and then was controlled. The same occurred

Whenever we have been able to return to school, the Year 12s have enjoyed seeing their friends. Pictured are Louis Blunt, Thomas Waldron, Charlie Limmer and Matthew Clayton

for smallpox, measles, poliomyelitis and the same will occur for COVID. His was a message of ‘this too will pass’. Things will get better. He is right, of course, and it is my belief that there will be visible and enduring benefits from a situation that currently seems dire. Among them is a less hectic lifestyle, the chance for stronger family connections and an appreciation of the societal freedoms we usually enjoy. Our young people, across the school, may not look back on the last 18 months as a great time in their lives, but they might appreciate that from the difficulties some good has emerged. They might be able to reflect on the areas in which they have been able to thrive.

It was good to have the Olympics as a diversion from the reality of 2020 and 2021. It was a tangible example that the show will (and must) ‘go on’. It was a relief to focus on events beyond our shores and it was a great time in our history to be reminded of the Olympic Creed, to reflect on the idea that ‘The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.’

Adrian Farrer

Principal