How quickly Term 1 has gone by! Last Friday it was wonderful to join the Junior School girls at their House Athletics Carnival and to observe the high levels of participation and enthusiasm shown by all! Thank you to the staff and parent helpers who facilitated this day for our girls. Similarly the Rowing Dinner on Friday evening was a celebration of the effort and skill which our rowers have exhibited throughout their season and I enjoyed sharing this special time with all rowing families.

This week we commenced Easter celebrations in Senior School on Tuesday when 20 Old Grammarians joined us for the annual singing of The Story of the Cross. The term will conclude tomorrow with a celebration of the Eucharist in Senior School at 8:40am and a less formal Easter Service in Junior School in the afternoon. I would like to particularly thank the girls who have designed our special candles for use in our services this year – Antigony, Yunjia, Ashley and Isabella. They are beautiful! 

I am sure you will have noticed the work being undertaken at the front of the School! This area is being improved in order to provide a more robust area for Senior School girls to play. We have worked with the Student Council to discuss the way in which the area can be optimised for interactive outdoor activities, while still providing an aesthetically pleasing entry to our School. Irrigation has been installed and the grassed area is being slightly expanded. There has been a “deck” built under the large tree and there will be line markings on the roadways for down-ball in due course. As I forecast last week, we have now had the trees on the front lawn assessed and the gums will be removed during the term break. Seven new mature trees, more appropriate for our school setting, will be planted at the front of the School. As part of this project, improved directional signage will be installed and the flagpole will be moved to the front of the School. We will add 2 more flagpoles, enabling us to fly additional flags, for example, when we have visitors from overseas. The “default” flags which will fly will be the Australian flag, the School flag and the Aboriginal Flag. 

In preparation for next term, I ask all families to please review their daughter’s uniform. There will be a change over period next term where girls will be able to select either winter or summer uniform, depending on the weather. Please ensure that winter skirts are of an appropriate length and that shirts are big enough for girls, who have no doubt grown since last year. Girls should have at least 3 shirts to rotate through different days of the week. All of these should fit properly, particularly around the neck. Senior School girls should have enough winter tights so that they can have fresh pairs as needed. Your cooperation in these matters is greatly appreciated. 

Next term we will have a number of opportunities to recognise the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing. I hope that many families will join us for our special community dawn service on ANZAC Day – please see the flyer in this Bulletin for details about this event. 

I wish all of our families every blessing for the Easter period and all of our girls a safe and happy holiday.