This week I have enjoyed spending some time with the Year 7 girls and staff on camp. As usual, the girls threw themselves into the experience and enjoyed broadening their connections across the year level and challenging themselves in various activities. For some families, having their daughter go away on camp is very challenging and requires a great deal of trust. The personal growth for each student, however, is invaluable and often, when I sit with Year 12 students at the completion of their school journey, it is their camp and trip experiences which they identify as the most memorable and as having the most impact on them in terms of individual development. Next week I am looking forward to visiting the Year 4 girls (and their Year 8 mentors) on camp at Portsea, where I am sure I will see a similar level of enthusiasm and enjoyment amongst all participants. I would like to thank parents for putting their trust in the staff and for allowing and encouraging their daughters to embrace the camp experience. I would also like to acknowledge the fantastic work of teachers and other attending staff, who leave their own families and home commitments in order to support the students to have a memorable and positive experience during camp. 

Our Mother’s Day events have also been a highlight this week, with many girls in Blinkbonnie House, Raymond House and Senior School attending special events with their mums or with other significant women in their lives. This is a time of year to pause and pay homage to our mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers, substitute mothers and all those women who have mothered us. Mother’s Day provides us with the chance to show appreciation to those who have demonstrated motherly qualities such as love, forgiveness, patience and encouragement to us and to think about how we can emulate them. For some, Mother’s Day is challenging, and my thoughts are with those in our community for whom Sunday will be a difficult time this year. And of course even the best mums aren’t always perfect – sometimes they disappoint us or let us down. These are the times that we need to show our best daughterly qualities – some of which we have learnt from our mothers or other motherly role models: love, forgiveness and encouragement!