​This week our Years 10, 11 and 12 students are completing their mid-year examinations – an important opportunity to consolidate and demonstrate their learning this year to date and to gain valuable experience working under time constraints. This kind of assessment method is just one way in which the girls can demonstrate their skills – it is

Our congratulations to Year 11 student Ashleigh for her exemplary performances on Channel 9’s ‘The Voice’. Over a number of weeks the Lowther Hall community, along with Australian television audiences, have been following Ashleigh’s journey and her time spent on team Jessie J.

During her time leading Junior School, Mrs Prandolini worked with great passion and dedication to create a community of confident and happy learners. She modelled and inspired high standards and was committed to ensuring that Lowther Hall remained a leader in teaching and nurturing its primary school students.

Exciting news for Year 11 student Ashleigh after she won last night’s ‘battle round’ on Channel 9’s ‘The Voice’ to stay on Team Jessie. Ashleigh’s moving performance of Disney’s ‘Colours of the Wind’ with fellow contestant Carmel Rodrigues received a standing ovation from all four coaches.

​Empathy is a highly valuable human quality but one which is not always straightforward for young people to develop. In Junior School this week at Together on Friday we will be exploring ways to practise seeing things from someone else’s perspective and considering another’s view. Developing the capacity for empathy is a shared responsibility of parents and staff and we appreciate everything that families do to assist girls to see various situations from the viewpoint of another, or to help them understand how another person might be feeling in a particular situation. One way in which we can assist young people to build their empathic skills is through assisting them to identify their own feelings so that they are better equipped to identify the feelings of others.

​Excitement is building in Senior School as the cast and crew of Beauty and the Beast make their final preparations for next week’s production. I hope that I will see many of you there! Similarly there is a buzz of anticipation in Junior School in the lead up to tomorrow’s Science Fair, which I am sure will be a highlight of the term. As each of these special opportunities takes place I am reminded of the dedication of the teachers who work tirelessly and with unrivalled passion to provide meaningful learning experiences for our girls, not simply in their classrooms, but through a range of wonderful additional programs.

This week I spoke to the Senior School girls about the use of good manners in their daily lives. Specifically I reminded them of the expectation that they (as a young person) give up a seat on public transport to an older person, a pregnant woman or a person with a disability.