I am often asked, “What makes St Hilda’s so special?”
This week I took the opportunity to describe ‘our vibe’ in musical terms at the 125 Anniversary Concert.
I asked this group of music enthusiasts to imagine a bassline in an orchestral piece of music, or the bassline of singers in a choir. The bassline is strong and is the foundation composed of values, purpose and vision.
With a solid St Hilda’s bassline, now 125 years old, our students and staff have the opportunity and artistic license to create their own individual melodies on top of that bassline. Some days their melodies might have high leaps in a major key, move in logical and sequential steps with crescendo moments that take them pleasantly by surprise. Other days their melodies may be melancholy and reflective.
Their melodies might take on the role of a countermelody, which compliments a friend’s or colleagues’ melody, creating a lovely duet. Sometimes they might have the solo melody and sometimes they might have an important part in the supporting harmonies. There’s likely to be moments of dissonance, followed by moments of resonance.
It is the combination, blending and interweaving of these imaginative and individual melodies that our students create, every day, over a collective reverberating bass, that together, sparks the spirit of St Hilda’s.
I encourage our students and staff to continue to compose their melodies and to sing and soar high over our St Hilda’s bassline.
With a strong foundation, we can spark extraordinary futures.
Tens of thousands of staff and students have been creating their melodies over the last 125 years and are now a part of St Hilda’s rich tapestry. We are all united by the time we have spent together, the friendships that we have formed, and the lasting memories that have been made.
Fiona Johnston
Principal
