As we head into a well-earned break, please ensure that, in the middle of some quality restorative time, winter uniform items are checked for fit and fitness and senior students get into catching up making up study notes, revising their Term 1 work and generally setting themselves up for success in Term 2. We will be going into full Winter uniform from the beginning of Term 2.

In addition to the normal uniform requirements of regulation blazer, skirt and jersey, for girls this means wearing the white long sleeved winter shirt and black tights and for boys a white long sleeved shirt. Boys may continue to wear short trousers in Winter should they wish. If you need reminding of uniform requirements they are inside the Student Planner, page 10 (white pages.

For senior students Term 2 marks the time when achieving at senior level begins to become a little tougher, a bit more demanding and sometimes a little overwhelming. Please remind your sons and daughters that asking for clarification, help or advice and guidance is always welcome and often prevents more issues arising further down the track. As I often say to students, life is tough, for everyone at times, and we all need to learn how to cope during those tough times, allowing our team (teachers, parents, friends) to help and not being afraid to say, “I don’t know how to do this/make the next step.” If we go through life doing all we can to avoid making mistakes, we would learn very little, and probably nothing of any worth. It is often out of adversity that our most valuable lessons will come.

“If there were no night, we would not appreciate the day, nor could we see the stars and the vastness of the heavens. We must partake of the bitter with the sweet. There is a divine purpose in the adversities we encounter every day. They prepare, they purge, they purify, and thus they bless.”

James E Faust