This week has been a very positive time as we have welcomed various cohorts of students back onsite at Leslie Road. In preparing for their return, we have been thinking particularly about how we can keep the girls safe, and I have been impressed with the ways in which all students have embraced the various safety measures in place to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19.

11 October was the International Day of the Girl, a date that we certainly are excited to recognise at Lowther Hall. Of course, being a girls’ school, every day at Lowther Hall is the day of the girl, but the date provides an opportunity to reflect on some of the benefits of being part of a girls’ school community.

Term 4 has started very positively, with the return of our Year 12 students to face to face classes and the start of the processes by which we recognise and farewell the class of 2021.

Today marks the final day of term and we finished in our usual manner by gathering (virtually of course) all girls from Kindergarten to Year 12 for the end of term assembly. This is a special time for us to celebrate the fact that we are a Kindergarten to Year 12 community, all together on one campus, and I usually delight in watching the older girls respond to the young voices of the girls in Blinkbonnie House as they all sing the School Song together.

Despite the disappointing news that lockdown and as a result, remote learning, is to continue to the end of term, the publication of the 2021 National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results this week provided reassurance that the global COVID-19 pandemic has had no significant impact on students’ literacy and numeracy achievement at Lowther Hall.

Despite not being physically present, it has been a busy and exciting week at Lowther Hall. Staff and students alike have been buzzing with the excitement generated by the Lowther Literary Festival and we have been privileged to have a number of author visits and special events to inspire and foster a love of reading within our community.

Last week, the Chaplain, the Deputy Principal and I attended the Anglican Schools Australia conference, a biennial event which brings together leaders of Anglican schools across the country for two days of professional learning, discussion and worship.

As we heard about the extension of lockdown 6.0 this week, I was comforted by some research that has come out of the UK recently, which gave me reason to remember that our girls are well positioned to be mentally tough! The study has found that girls who attend single-sex schools are generally more confident and emotionally in control than girls attending state and independent co-educational schools.

​At Lowther Hall we value respectful relationships which give rise to everyone having a voice. I spoke to the Senior School girls about this aspect of the School’s Values Statement in assembly recently and reminded them of the ways in which we try to foster the development of student voice through committees, voting processes and cross age programs.

​I have loved watching the Olympics during this last week or so. The dressage and the artistic gymnastics are some of my favourite events to watch – possibly because they connect me back in to two of my childhood hobbies, but I also love the excitement of the swimming and the drama of the kayaking!