FROM THE PRINCIPAL
“My barn having burned down,
I can now see the moon.”
– Mizuta Masahide, 17th Century
Japanese poet and samurai.
This edition of the Forward magazine
contains a multitude of examples showcasing
the strength and resilience of our Guildford
Grammar School community.
While leading and managing through
a worldwide pandemic was not on my
to-do list when I commenced as the new
Principal of the School this year, it has
certainly enabled me to witness firsthand
the incredible strength and agility of
our students, staff, families and Old
Guildfordians.
As COVID-19 made its presence felt in our
nation, at Guildford Grammar School we
adapted quickly and effectively, creating
new ways of doing and clever ways of
communicating. We travelled less, mastered
live-streamed meetings (or not!) and washed
our hands (again and again). We shifted to
remote learning in a matter of a fortnight
and planned for limited personal interaction
in Term 2, only to have those plans change
within 48 hours. However, the best outcome
of this sudden shift was that we could focus
again on being present with one another,
building those relationships that foster great
teaching and learning. Of course, for some,
the realisation of this connectedness has
been somewhat hampered by distance,
closed regional borders or quarantine
requirements. Nevertheless, as Term 2 has
unfolded, our community has gradually come
together again, like the pieces of the many
jigsaw puzzles that we all bought for those
long days we thought we would have in
self-isolation.
We work closely with our students at
Guildford Grammar School to support
their development of resilient responses to
setbacks, to foster their growth mindset
and to help them make courageous choices.
We know that learning and growing from
challenges are essential to building a greater
sense of balance and satisfaction in life.
I have been reading journalist and author
Leigh Sales’ book, Any Ordinary Day:
Blindsides, resilience and what happens after
the worst day of your life. In it, she states,
“Traditionally, psychologists have studied
the negative impacts of trauma and
bereavement, the ways in which people
are left broken and troubled, and the
focus has been on how to return to socalled
‘normal’ functioning. In the past
three decades, though, researchers have
asked, what if people don’t return to
normal, what if they develop enhanced
functioning instead?”
I hasten to emphasise that, for many of us, the
Coronavirus pandemic is not, and will not be,
the worst thing that has ever happened to us.
However, it has created moments of doubt,
fear, indecision and unpredictability that have
afforded us an opportunity to rethink our daily
lives. I have witnessed our students in both the
Preparatory and Senior schools, devise ways to
offer support to one another both online and
in person. The two weeks of learning from
home at the conclusion of Term 2 prompted
rapid innovation in the online space that
our teaching staff will continue to leverage
in the future. With the need to restrict large
gatherings in small spaces, we have been out
in the fresh air walking, riding bicycles and
scooters and kicking a ball. After all this, we
may well find that we do not wish to return to
the ‘old normal’ and instead will create new
opportunities to support further change.
Sales concludes her book by saying: “life is
richer, kinder and safer than the news would
have you believe. People are more decent.
The things you think you won’t be able to
survive, you probably can ... be grateful for the
ordinary days ... They’re not so ordinary really.”
I am very grateful for the resilience and
courage of all in our Guildford Grammar
School community. This has been a
challenging and unusual time in our School,
our State and indeed, globally. I am sure
you will enjoy reading about our School
community’s remarkable tenacity, patience and
innovation in this edition of Forward.
Mrs Anne Dunstan
Principal
Reference
Sales, L. 2019, Any Ordinary Day: Blindsides, Resilience
and what Happens After the Worst Day of your Life,
Penguin, Australia
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