From the Principal - Edition 1 - 2023

Welcome to 2023

It has been wonderful to experience the start of the school year in what we would consider a more normal way. Notwithstanding, we introduced some new experiences to start the year well.

All students in the Senior School took part in Prepare@West, a series of short course and study skill sessions to ensure that all students started the year with knowledge they need to help them through life at School and beyond. Engagement and retention of knowledge through these short courses relies on the determination and enthusiasm of the participant so we are asking our students as to what worked well for them. For our Years 11 and 12 students, Prepare@West included the opportunity to complete some accreditations and for Year 12s, it included their retreat.

Another significant shift was to have all students at School on the first day and to hold our Commencement Assembly at the end of this day to induct our Student Leaders. The Michael Murray Centre for Performing Arts was at its capacity to witness both Preparatory and Senior School Leaders make their promise to our community and to have the community make an equally important promise to our student School Leaders.

Seeing the MMC full created a sensational atmosphere for the start of the School year and a great opportunity to recognise our students.

We also set our course and shared the theme for the School year, which is to ‘be considerate’ and treat others as we want to be treated. Our leaders were encouraged to demonstrate considerate leadership by:

• Building personal relationships with the people they are leading
• Showing care and concern for others
• Demonstrating a willingness to differentiate for others
• Facilitating cooperation among community members
• Expressing appreciation and support.

Of course, it is not just the Student Leaders who we want to live our theme. This applies to every student and as parents and caregivers, we can all help our students become more considerate. We can role model it, we can lead reflection on whether or not actions were considerate, and we can avoid engaging in double standards.

So, as I did to all students, I challenge all of us to live our theme of ‘being considerate’. We’re now two weeks into Term 1, which has given us time to reset our routines. My first specific challenge within the theme is to be considerate when driving and parking inside the School grounds. Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen a flurry of speeding in and out the campus, probably because we have been out of routine. So, let’s reset and remember it is a limit of 10 km/h. The traffic rules on site are clearly signed to ensure that all members of our community have a safe campus. I respectfully ask that we all show consideration of these regulations. Later this term, we will be sharing an overview of the parent/caregiver survey undertaken at the end of 2022. One aspect I happily share now is that our families feel our campus is a safe place. We pride ourselves that this is the case, but it is something we have to work on together. Being considerate when travelling around the campus is an important step to ensure our School community is safe, particularly when we have so many young students moving in and around our grounds.

We'll also be using the eNews to introduce new staff, the staff who are taking on a new role at Westminster, staff who make up our School Leadership Team (SLT) and other staff movements. We start with the latest appointment to SLT, Angela Phillips, as our new Director of Teaching.

In addition to staffing updates, there’s a lot happening in Term 1. Welcome to Westminster 2023, Boarder Parents’ Weekend, Westfest and the School musical ‘Mamma Mia’ are just a few examples that will bring our great community together… and that is only Term 1.

We’re going to have a fantastic year!

Simon Shepherd
Principal