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.

Congratulations to our Lowther Hall Big Band for their second place win at the Mt Gambier 'Generations in Jazz' Festival! The girls competed against hundreds of students from schools around Australia over the weekend in this popular and prestigious event.

I am enjoying catching up with families at Learning Conferences as they occur across the School in these first few weeks of term.

​It has been wonderful to welcome the girls back to Term 2 this week. As usual they have impressed me with their enthusiasm for all that school life has to offer.

One of the many ways we connect Old Grammarians with current Lowther students is by holding guest speaker events. The annual Year 7 'Lowther Stories' morning provides girls with the opportunity to hear about life as a Lowther girl from Old Grammarians who attended our School from the 1930s to the 1990s. Thank you Anne, Mary, Lois, and Sarah!

​Term 1 has ended in a wonderfully positive manner today with the commissioning of Reverend Fiona Raike by Bishop Kate Prowd.

As I write this week, I am at a conference examining best practice in education and research relating to teaching and learning. It is always invigorating to take the position of a learner for a few days and to hear from experts and other practitioners about new ways in which we can continue to provide an education that ensures every girl has a relevant and purposeful experience in every subject every day!

​At this time of year I meet with each Year 12 student in her House group to hear how the year has begun and to receive feedback about the classes and programs that the girls are undertaking. It is always a delight to touch base with the girls and share time together with them. I am incredibly impressed with the focussed and productive start to the year that the girls have made. They are managing their time effectively and engaging with their subjects in a very mature and disciplined manner.

It was a joyous morning today at Lowther Hall as we held our "Blessing of the Animals"! Girls in Grant House brought pet dogs (and a brave guinea pig) to the blessing held by our Chaplains, Reverend Emily and Reverend Fiona, and we gave thanks for them and the animals of the world.

I am excited to be heading down to Geelong today to cheer on our Senior School Rowing Squad at the Head of the Schoolgirls Rowing Regatta! Rowing is just one of the many cocurricular activities that are well underway this year, with girls passionately pursuing a variety of sports, musical endeavours, debating, chess and public speaking.