At last Monday’s Governing Council AGM we thanked Peter Amerl for his work and efforts as Governing Council Chair, farewelled Peter, & Priah Dean and a new council was appointed. I look forward to working with them over the next 12 months to help set and monitor the broad direction of the school and monitor the Site Improvement Plan. Our members are, Chairperson: Ron van Buuren, Vice Chairperson: Jordy Moffat, Treasurer: Tawanda Mutandwa, Secretary: to be determined, Staff Representatives: Richard Greig, Sophie Braun (Term 1), Simon Illingworth, Community Representatives: Michael Pittolo, Flinders University Representative: Hayden Tronnolone, Councillors: Kathleen Elliot, Craig Palamountain, Sharon Strickland, Pradeep Vailasseri, and Student Representatives: Shreeza Kandel, Alex Bogatyrev.
I had the privilege to host several of our students and staff at the virtual International Women’s Day breakfast with Grace Tame and Penny Wong as guest speakers with the theme of Break The Bias. This can be defined as deep analysis of both conscious and unconscious bias where at times the assumptions that are made about women, their goals and ambitions, expectations at home and at work are often not a conscious choice and at the ASMS we believe we have a role to play in raising awareness of this.
At the ASMS, supporting our students to develop learning dispositions and have agency in their learning is a priority. It is about our students having a sense of self-awareness, self-direction and self-regulation in their learning. For some of our students this can be unsettling at first as they adjust to these expectations in their new school. Teachers work with students to support their development of agency in the Learning Studies program and in the way learning is designed in Central Studies and Year 12. Parents and caregivers please work through the Learning Studies teacher if your child is still finding it hard to settle in.
Kylie Eggers
Principal