School newsletters fulfil a myriad of purposes – they inform, encourage, celebrate and capture moments in time. This newsletter, like all others, is made up of words and visual images which together convey the spirit and the diversity of activities and opportunities that exist at Hills Grammar.
"A picture is worth a thousand words" is an English language-idiom - and refers to the notion that complex ideas can be conveyed with just a single still image or that an image of a subject conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a description does.
Accepting this premise - perhaps less words are sometimes justified and to this end I am not going to say too much on this occasion, but rather allow the newsletter to do its job. I would encourage you not to ignore the visual images throughout this newsletter. What do they tell us about our school, our identity, our staff, our students, our community and our culture? The answers will be wide and varied and I would be interested in hearing them if you would like to send through a response to my email.
At conferences I have attended over the years a visual image game is often played – each participant asked to select an image that captures a concept, they are then asked to explain why they selected the image and what is conveys. I have reflected upon this activity these past two weeks as I have visited many wonderful teaching and learning activities around the school (Years 5 & 6 Musical, Kindergarten Inquiry, Year 1 Fizzics, Year 7 STEM, Year 8 Languages Day with our visitors from Jishukhan, Japan - to name but a few). Some of the images of these activities are captured in the scroll above – what do they convey to me about Hills Grammar? – that which I mentioned last newsletter – the joy or learning, so clearly evident on the faces of our students and something to celebrate and appreciate.
Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to select an image that captures your view of Hills Grammar. Please send them in to me electronically with a few words to explain why you have chosen the image. Send them to me at michael.smith@hillsgrammar.nsw.edu.au
Enjoy perusing this edition of the newsletter as it once again informs, encourages, celebrates and captures moments in the last fortnight at Hills Grammar and convey a spirit and atmosphere of which I am so proud.
Michael Smith | Principal
Twitter: @Principal_Hills