This week, I have enjoyed sharing with staff and students some of my holiday adventures. This most recent break took me to Exmouth, a couple of flying hours north of Perth, where I enjoyed snorkelling and swimming with humpback whales. As a person who really only became a competent swimmer as an adult, jumping off the back of a boat into the ocean to encounter an enormous wild animal was daunting to say the least. It was, however, absolutely amazing! I returned with a much greater appreciation of whales as lavish communicators, committed mothers, playful giants and curious companions. What the experience also reminded me, however, was that sometimes, in order to experience growth, to build our knowledge or to have a feeling of awe and wonder, we have to put our fear aside and jump in! This is the message that I shared with the girls in our whole school assembly on Tuesday. I invited them to embrace opportunities during Term 4 and to give things a go. For many Senior School students, exams loom large this term and this is one of those contexts in which, rather than becoming paralysed by fear, girls will do best if they can approach their final assessments with confidence and a willingness to attempt every question and do their best. For other girls, courage will be needed as they take to the stage for a performance, sign up for a new activity, ask a teacher for help, dive into the water for swimming or talk to a peer they don’t know very well. At Lowther Hall, one of the Qualities that we hope to foster in every student is the ability to take a considered risk and this is the perfect term to hone this Quality! I look forward to walking alongside our students over the remaining weeks of the year as they “jump in” to everything on offer at their school!

Ms Elisabeth Rhodes
Principal