We enjoyed a fantastic Lowther Women Luncheon event today, in recognition of International Women’s Day. Thank you to our panellists Prof Hon Jill Hennessy, Cr Samantha Byrne (Class of 2006) and Social Justice Prefect, Sinèad. To our past and present parents, students and staff who attended: thank you for your support of this event!

​This morning, Lowther Hall was represented by members of the Year 12 Business Management class at a breakfast hosted by the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia to celebrate International Women’s Day. The girls travelled to Queen’s Hall at the Victorian Parliament House and had the opportunity to hear from guest speaker, Dr Angelia Grant, Head of the Macroeconomic Conditions Division in the Australian Treasury.

​This week, while visiting the Year 8 students in Anglesea on camp, the girls persuaded me to give the rock climbing wall a go. As I made my way up, wondering whether my arthritic right knee was going to hold up, I remembered just what it feels like to push yourself out of your comfort zone and to put your trust in others. I didn’t quite make it to the top, but apparently I made it far enough for the Year 8s to be entertained.

​We recently celebrated our 103rd birthday at our Founder Day Assembly! Our honoured guest and speaker was Mary Armour (Colwell, Class of 1943) who shared stories of her time at the School during the 1930s and 1940s.

​This week I was interviewed for a history that is being written about the school that both my mother and I attended. In preparation I re-read my school reports, looked through some of the magazines (the equivalent of the Lowther Hall Chronicle) and spoke to mum about her school experience.

​The Lowther Hall Values Statement affirms our commitment to “an orientation towards our future which embraces our Anglican context, our traditions and our past”. One of the rituals that provides us with an opportunity to live out this value is the annual Founder Day assembly, at which we celebrate the School’s “birthday”.

​Congratulations to Claudia Krake (Class of 2022) who has recently won the Snow Australia ‘Spirit of Interschools’ award for her work in developing snowsports programs and initiatives at Lowther Hall for our students last year.

​There is nothing like the sound of the girls’ voices to bring Lowther Hall to life! During January the operations team, maintenance staff and various contractors worked to prepare the buildings and grounds for the start of the year. There have also been several weeks of meetings, professional learning sessions, curriculum writing and classroom set up by the teachers, alongside the completion of the various start of year tasks by the administration and support staff. Despite all of this busy and important work, until the girls arrive, the school doesn’t quite feel quite right.

Our girls are back! What a wonderful start to Term 1 today, with lots of happy smiles and excited reunions between friends as well as our whole school assembly at which every new student and staff member to our community received their Lowther Hall bear. We look forward to an exciting and energetic year ahead.