From the Principal

I recently had the opportunity to hear the Deputy Chief of Navy address a group of young leaders graduating as Navy officers. As he spoke congratulating and guiding the graduates on their future careers, he said something that many of us would not associate with the military. It was something that resonated with me and our Westminster values. Vice Admiral David Johnston AC RAN said: Leadership is an exercise in humanity.
These seemingly simple words are often forgotten by adults, let alone children. For some, leadership is about popularity, about being popular and maintaining it. Others strive for leadership, seeing it as an indicator of their success or prowess, while others almost stumble into leadership. It may be something to which they aspire but they’re not relentlessly chasing it, rather they ‘fall’ into it as an outcome of their usefulness, actions, relationships, kindness and diligence.

As educators, we aspire to create a generation of these ‘accidental leaders’. Those who rise gently into leadership in life through their emotional intelligence, quiet determination and with a capacity to see what others don’t. These leaders seem to live this quote by Simon Sinek: Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.
Schools are places to learn and at Westminster, we strive to ensure that all students are not only learning the curriculum, but also learning all the soft skills necessary to become ‘accidental leaders’. All too often learning is about failing and learning from your mistakes, and we are all capable of making mistakes (sometimes I wonder if some leaders are just people prepared to make more mistakes).

Coming up in Term 2…

Giving Day, Thursday 15 June 2023.

You may have just received a posted invitation to take part in our Giving Day on Thursday 15 June (the brochure can be downloaded here). This year our focus is on the Sturt Grove Farm, our 4.5 hectare on-campus working farm, to broaden its use for all students from Early Learning to Year 12. We are reimagining our farm to suit future learning in Agriculture, a place where world-class agricultural and other learning experiences take place at the heart of a thriving community. The Sturt Grove Farm has been synonymous with Westminster for more than 50 years. It is a unique asset of Westminster that has been built with the community’s help across time. Our goal is to raise $500,000 and we are asking for your valued support to help us make this visionary new facility a reality.
The new vision for the Farm will incorporate:
· Three multidisciplinary classrooms· Outdoor learning and community spaces· Well-equipped wet labs· Facilities for viticulture, agriculture, and aquaculture· Produce processing area and farm kitchen· Shearing facilities· Washdown zone· Community Farm shop
The new Sturt Grove Farm will proudly continue to be a place for teaching students the importance of sustainable agriculture, and how technology, science, and design support this industry, while fostering a sense of connection to the land. It is the first project that has been given a priority green light as the second chapter of our Campus Masterplan is being developed.