Student Achievements

One of the things that I have missed due to the impact of COVID-19 is that, with so many activities inside and outside of School cancelled, we have not been able to acknowledge the achievements of students. I would encourage any family to let me know of any outstanding achievements of their children. This is mainly for activities that are outside of Westminster in case there have been some able to be recorded within the health guidelines in place. Hopefully, as our co-curricular program begins to come alive and outside organisations are also able to return to providing activities, we will again be able to celebrate student achievements.

One achievement that I became aware of from our Head of Round Square, Julia Chukwuani, was the acceptance of Tamsin Conway (Year 12) into the ADF GAP Year program with the Navy. The Navy Gap Year program provides young Australians with an opportunity to broaden their life experience with only a one year commitment. The program offers a 'try before you buy' experience of Navy training and lifestyle, without any obligation to serve beyond the program period. There is a rigorous application and selection process involved and I congratulate Tamsin on being accepted.

Reconciliation Chapel

The past week has been Reconciliation Week, which this year has the theme of In This Together. In a ‘normal’ year, the Indigenous students (with the guidance of Head of Indigenous Students Nahla Baroudi and School Chaplain Rev Phil Hoffmann), would prepare a Chapel Service and also present an assembly, celebrating their culture and reminding the School about the importance of reconciliation. It has been a highlight of the Senior School Calendar for many years and has been shared with the Preparatory School over the last few years. I am hopeful that we can still provide the opportunity for the Indigenous students to present an assembly later in the year.

As an interim alternative, this year our Indigenous students have prepared and presented a Chapel service online with the support and guidance of Nahla and Phil. Unfortunately, some of our Indigenous students are still in their communities given the difficulty of not only returning to South Australia, but also the lengthy process of isolation when they go home. I hope this will change soon so we will see them again in Term 3. Some Indigenous students, not currently on campus, have still been able to participate in the delivery of this service. The first student to speak in the service is our Indigenous Captain, Maddy Rasmussen, who is still home in Jabiru.

This is another example of our students finding alternative ways to share messages with the School community. I congratulate and thank all the students and staff involved in presenting this message.

I encourage you to take the time to watch the service, which can be accessed through Rev Phil Hoffmann’s eNews article.

Targeted Spam Emails

Currently we are seeing a rise in so-called ‘Phishing’ (fishing) / scam emails. These can appear from other users at the School or from companies and possibly families connected to the school.

It may have a message such as “Take action before Tuesday” and a link to view an article. The link could take you to a login page with a Westminster logo. We believe this to be a targeted phishing attempt to gain access to usernames and passwords.

We have updated our firewall but this may not be as effective if you are looking at emails from home or through your phones. DO NOT enter a username or password into one of these emails no matter how genuine it may appear.

If you are any doubt at all with an email sent to you, the safest action is to just delete it.

David Wallage
Head of Senior School