The final term of the year always begins with a strong sense of purpose. While Year 12 students sit their HSC examinations and Year 11 students begin the HSC, the School settles into a respectful sense of calm, while the jacarandas start to bloom on Kelly Street and the calendar builds steadily towards December.
We began the term with a Staff Professional Development Day, giving our colleagues valuable time to learn together, with diverse topics covered including psychosocial safety with Independent Schools NSW, our new Compass system, and curriculum planning for 2027. Since then, the mood on campus has been settled and quietly busy.
Our Year 12 students have now reached the halfway point, with HSC exams continuing until the end of Week 4. I want to extend my congratulations to every one of them. Our whole school goal this year is GRIT, and Year 12 has shown us what passion and perseverance look like over many months of study. Thank you also to our students and staff for keeping the campus focused during this period, giving Year 12 the space to do their very best. Year 12, keep going with confidence and trust in your preparation – we are all cheering you on!
In the Junior School, last Friday’s Years 3–6 Award Assembly celebrated student achievements from Term 3, including our Ethics Olympiad team, which placed fifth in the nation – a superb achievement for our young thinkers. My thanks to Primary teacher Teresa Bertoli for coaching them to this exceptional result.
This week we also began welcoming the students who will join us in 2027, starting with orientation for our new ELC and Kindergarten children.
The holidays brought some remarkable opportunities for our students to learn beyond the classroom. Nine students studying Japanese spent two weeks in Osaka with our global partner school, Osaka International Junior and Senior High School, living with host families and studying alongside their Japanese peers – an enriching reflection of our language-rich education. On Lizard Island, a group of Year 10 and 11 students learned from marine researchers and contributed data to reef mapping, while others completed their Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. Such impressive achievements!
At this morning’s Middle School Assembly, we shared the results of Go The Distance, and I am thrilled to announce that our community has raised an incredible $65,000 for Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. This is an outstanding result and a powerful expression of the compassion, generosity and altruism at the heart of IGS. Our students and Houses took on this challenge with determination and spirit – grit in action, in the service of others. Thank you to Gareth Douse for his leadership and to our Heads of House for their encouragement. In a few weeks our choir will once again visit Chris O’Brien Lifehouse to sing for patients and staff.
Our students’ creativity has also been on show. Earlier this week, the annual Instrumental and Composition Competitions brought the 2026 IGS Competition Series to a close, and I congratulate our overall winners Dara and Luka and every student who performed. I am also proud of Year 11 students Alice and Romeo, who were selected through a competitive process completing the National Art School’s HSC Intensive Studio Practice Painting Course, and of Miranda and Finn, who performed the Australian and American National Anthems at the 2026 AmCham Alliance Awards Gala. My thanks to Director of Art and Design Sandra Veljanovski and Director of Music Darren Kuilenburg for supporting these students to pursue such valuable opportunities.
Next Thursday 29 October, our community will come together for Giving Day in support of the IGS Foundation. Last year your generosity raised over $170,000 as we launched the Foundation. This year’s theme A Place to Grow speaks to what every gift makes possible – Indigenous scholarships, a Bibliothèque filled with books, stories and learning environments where our students can flourish. I hope you will join us in shaping the future of IGS for today’s students and for generations to come.
Giving Day is followed by World Teachers’ Day on Friday, and I am grateful to our P&C for kindly hosting a morning tea to recognise IGS staff. Learning continues for our families too, with Associate Professor Alexis Whitton closing The Ultimo Series for 2026 on Thursday 12 November with her lecture Digital Mental Health for Teenagers: What Works, What’s Hype, and How Parents Can Help. In the remaining weeks of term, we will welcome more new families at our orientation mornings and announce our 2027 School Leaders, before December brings us together for the Year 6 Graduation Dinner, K–2 Speech Day and Speech Night, when I will announce our 2027 musical, bring our new school leaders onto the stage to wish them well, and celebrate the achievements of our students and school community.
Of all the moments ahead, SAGE Week in Week 6 is especially close to my heart. When I first arrived at IGS, I was struck by how much our students loved their School, and I wanted to create an experience they could only find here – one for every student. Year after year, I have watched students fall in love with Shakespeare, uncover the history of The Rocks, create their own operas on Kelly Street and discover poetry in the beautiful landscapes of Tasmania. This will be my last SAGE Week as Principal at IGS, and I will be savouring every moment.
On a personal note, as we move through this final term I find myself noticing the rhythm of these weeks more deeply than ever. Thank you to the many families, students and colleagues who have sent such kind messages since my retirement was announced. They have meant a great deal to me, and I hope to see many of you at our final 2026 events in the weeks ahead.
It is a privilege to share this time with our students, colleagues and families and I wish everyone a fantastic final term.
Warm regards
Shauna Colnan
Principal
