Stephen Meek Principal
1 I think we cannot really appreciate just how much interest there is, in various parts of the world, in our introduction of Positive Education into the School. We do get frequent feedback from members of our community that they were attending a conference, or reading an article in the press or listening to a programme on the radio and reference was made to Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School – but I still think it is very difficult for us to appreciate the scale of that interest that exists throughout the world. This term, alone, we have had groups of principals from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and different parts of Australia, visiting the School, keen to find out more about our Positive Education Programme – and I have received other enquiries from South America and China. Moreover, the feedback from our visitors is invariably that they are inspired by what we are doing and wish that they could do the same in their schools. Thus, our awareness of the wider interest is, I think, only the tip of the iceberg, for if one puts Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School into a search engine, there are thousands of responses. There is, indeed, enormous interest in what we are doing. The theme of this edition of Light Blue is savouring and engaging – and perhaps we might savour the fact that there is such interest in the School, but I have mentioned that interest more to illustrate the degree of engagement we have with other schools, universities and Departments of Education. We have always said that our aim is to share Positive Education with others, rather than simply to keep it as a point of difference between ourselves and other schools. It would be hypocritical to say to our students that for them the road to life satisfaction involves living a meaningful life by serving something bigger than themselves, while at the same time saying that we are building barriers to keep out other people from access to ideas which we believe to be life changing. We would like to change the lives of more than our own students and staff, or even our own community. We want to engage with a wider world.
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One example of that engagement with a wider world comes from very close to home, but in a slightly different context. Each year, some of our Year 11 students run in a relay to Lorne and back – a distance of 160 kilometres and hence known as the Lorne 160. Each year, the students raise money for the Lorne 160 and donate it to a local charity. This year, the students decided to support the Karen refugees who are living in Corio and are members of the St Andrew’s parish in Corio. Ross Featherston and Father Hugh write about this on pages 14 and 15. However, in addition to donating $40,000 to the Karen community, the School has also made available to them a patch of land on which they can grow vegetables for their community. Some Year 10 students prepared the land as part of their Year 10 camp and Karen refugees, students and staff will be able to support one another in this tremendous project for years to come. I see this as a very special form of engagement, for it is often harder to give time than it is to give money, but the impact on the lives of the givers will be that much deeper. That staff and students will both be actively engaged in working together in this project reflects one of the great strengths of the School. I am constantly impressed by the level of connection, or engagement, that there is between staff and students – and this can be seen at every campus. It is most noticeable at Timbertop, where every member of staff undertakes the runs and the hikes which the students do. As I write, the students and staff are undertaking the six-day hike, which is one of the great Timbertop experiences, to be followed next week by the final challenge, the marathon. It is the complete immersion in these experiences which makes them so powerful and so memorable. It is that engagement with the challenge, the environment, the other students and the staff which makes these two events such complete experiences. They remain experiences to
2 savour for ever. Our students and staff are fortunate to have such opportunities – opportunities which continue to make Timbertop such a unique and powerful journey. Stephen Meek Principal
1. T he community garden has engaged students and staff with a unique element of the wider Corio community – Karen refugees from the troubled border country of Thailand and Burma/Myanmar. 2. P rincipal Stephen Meek watches on as Annie Naw Nyo from the Karen community plants the first chilli plant in the Community Garden.