It is with mixed emotions that we announce the resignation of Mrs Therese Kenter from our school community. Mrs Kenter has been a valued member of our team, providing exceptional administrative support and serving as the PA to the Head of Junior School with dedication and professionalism. Her outstanding service has been deeply appreciated and she will be missed. We congratulate her on her recent promotion in the hotel industry and wish her every success in this exciting new chapter.

At the same time, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Harri Oyston as the new PA to the Head of Junior School. Ms Oyston brings strong experience, attention to detail and a deep understanding of our school community. We have no doubt that she will do an outstanding job in this role.

We are now seeking to appoint a Junior School Receptionist and look forward to announcing the successful applicant soon.

Mrs Karen Wallace’s Farewell

Following Dr Greenhalgh’s recent newsletter announcement regarding Mrs Karen Wallace’s retirement, we invite you to join us for her retirement farewell to celebrate 37 years of service. There will be an assembly followed by a light afternoon tea.

Please allow extra time for parking, as on-site parking will not be available.

• Thursday 3 April 2025
• 1.30pm – 2.30pm
• IGC

RSVP for catering purposes here.

We would like to remind parents to book in for the upcoming Parent-Teacher Interviews in Week 6. These interviews provide a valuable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, goals and development. Please ensure you book a time that works best for you to connect with your child’s teacher. You would have received an email in recent weeks with the details.

To provide more tailored sessions, Chapel has been adjusted to two half-hour services per week—one for K-2 and another for Years 3-6. This change aligns with practices in other Christian and Anglican schools, allowing for age-appropriate engagement in Bible exploration, prayer and reflection while supporting our Biblical Studies and Personal Development programs.

Parents are welcome to attend Chapel starting from Week 6, now that classes have been assigned to assist in hosting.

• K-2 Chapel: Friday 1.30 pm, Rees Hall 
• Years 3-6 Chapel: Friday 2.20pm, Rees Hall.

To ensure a smooth transition between services, parking must be offsite to avoid disruptions to the carline at the end of the day. Additionally, K-2 students will remain in class after Chapel to complete the final period of the day.

We look forward to welcoming families to these special times of worship.

Chapel roster:

• Week 6 – 1T and 5R
• Week 7 – 1G and 6A
• Week 8 – 1B and 6S
• Week 9 – Quiz Worx

To ensure a smooth and safe drop-off and pick-up process, we have written a document titled Junior School Car Line Procedures, which is available on OLLE. Please familiarise yourself with it. The information can be found below. We are also working at improving the signage in the Junior School car park to assist our drivers.

Morning Drop-Off

• The inside lane (right hand lane) is designated for Piper Centre parking only. Please do not use this lane for Junior School drop-off.

Afternoon Pick-Up

• The middle lane must remain clear until 3.00pm to allow for vehicle manoeuvring.
• Families picking up from the Piper Centre are strongly encouraged to arrive before 2.30pm or after 3.30pm to help ease congestion.

Additional Information

• Late Collection: Junior School students not collected by 3.40pm will be escorted to PEAK, our Out of School Hours Care service. Please note that this will incur a fee.
• Families with students in both the Senior and Junior Schools should use the Senior School car line, accessible via the Powell Street entry. Junior School students will be escorted to the Senior School to meet their older siblings.
• Car Line Flow: If you reach the front of the queue before your child is ready, you will be asked to complete another loop around the car line.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our car line safe, efficient and orderly.

Our new and existing Prep children have well and truly settled into their environment, embracing their new classrooms for 2025 with enthusiasm. It has been wonderful to see them so engaged, happy and thriving in their new routines. I am incredibly impressed with how quickly they have adapted to their new educators and daily structures. A huge congratulations to our Teachers and Educators, whose nurturing relationships and responsive interactions have created a warm and settled atmosphere for all our children.

Our specialist lessons are now in full swing, and the children are especially loving their Japanese class with Sensei Aoki on Tuesday mornings. How blessed we are to have our Music Classroom so close. The Pre-Preps have even been able to visit the music room with Ms Hollander on Mondays, which has been an absolute delight!

It has also been heartwarming to see our 2025 Prep students enjoying glimpses of their Prep 2024 friends, who now proudly walk into Big School in their new uniforms each morning. We have even received excited visits from our Kindergarten students who have stopped by the Piper Centre to share their joy about this big milestone.

We are also delighted to commence transition interviews with our incoming Kindergarten 2026 students, setting them up for a smooth and confident start to their school journey.

We look forward to all the exciting experiences Term II and the rest of the year will bring.

Our Junior School Swimming Carnival took place on Monday 17 February at Western Suburbs Pool in Unanderra, with students participating enthusiastically to earn points for their respective houses.

A total of nine records were broken during the carnival, highlighting some outstanding individual performances.

• Max Eccles was particularly successful, breaking three records over the course of the day
• Oscar Sheppard broke two records, one of which had stood for twenty-four years
• Yuxuan Ren and Ziyu Han each set a new record.

These achievements reflect the hard work and talent of the swimmers throughout the day.

At the end of the carnival, Kogara House was declared the winner, thanks to consistent performances across various age groups. Thanks to the Year 10 PASS students who helped on the day, along with the staff who made the day possible.

House points and Age Champions are listed below.

House Competition

1st – Kogara (1,235 points)

2nd – Coligan (1,084 points)

3rd – Wolgal (1,041 points)

4th – Aranda (734 points)

Age Champions

On Friday 14 March, the P&F is running an outdoor movie night for Junior School families. Gates open at 6.40pm with the movie to commence from 7.30pm on the Junior School Oval.

Please register you attendance here.

• Monday 3 March – Friday 7 March – JS Learning Conversations (Week 6)
• Wednesday 12 March – Friday 21 March – NAPLAN
• Thursday 13 March – Assembly – Year 1 hosting and Cantilena Singers performing
• Friday 14 March – P&F Junior School Movie Night

Celebration of Learning dates:

• Wednesday 26 March – Kindergarten – 9.30am-10.15am
• Wednesday 26 March – Year 2 – 11.00am-11.45am
• Wednesday 2 April – Year 4 – 11.00am-11.45am

At The Illawarra Grammar School, the Senior School is fortunate to be supported by a strong Student Leadership team, consisting of Head Prefects and Captains. Here is an update on the current initiatives and events that some of our Captains and Prefects are working on.

House Captain Update – Ana Sukara (Aranda)

This term, following the Swimming Carnival, all House Captains have been focused on preparing for the highly anticipated Artsfest. With the introduction of exciting new events, such as the photography competition and theatre sports, the House Captains from Aranda, Coligan, Kogara and Wolgal are working harder than ever. The integration of Year 11 leaders has further enhanced teamwork across all Houses.

In Aranda, our enthusiasm and involvement are evident through the Aranda Dance and Cover Song. We strongly encourage greater participation across all year groups to help secure our third consecutive victory!

The House spirit at Illawarra Grammar remains strong, and we eagerly look forward to Artsfest in Week 10.

Language Captain Update – Jemima Hemmes

Every Wednesday at lunch, the Language Captains host cultural activities at the top of M Block. Throughout the term, we will be writing pen-pal letters to our overseas sister schools, helping students practise their language skills in a real-world setting while making international connections. We also play board games and traditional games from around the world, enjoy snacks from Japan, China and France, and participate in fun Kahoots, Blookets and Gimkits to test our cultural knowledge. The Origami Club is also there, offering a creative way to explore Japanese culture. We’re always looking for suggestions to make our activities as fun as possible!

Wellbeing Captain Update – Grace Russo

In 2025, our Wellbeing team is focused on building upon and strengthening the wellbeing of every student.

Our core theme for this year is The Power of Words and Actions, a theme we introduced in a recent School Assembly. This theme encourages students to think about how small, positive gestures can contribute to a stronger sense of community and wellbeing. In addition to this focus, we have several exciting upcoming events designed to support and advocate for Student Wellbeing. Further details about these events will be shared shortly.

We are excited to be working with Mrs Cassidy who has taken on the role of Dean of Wellbeing, and can’t wait to see the positive impact of these initiatives throughout the year.

Head Prefect – Saxon Parrish 

One of the most significant aspects of our roles as leaders is supporting a charity, chosen by the Year 12 Students. It’s an incredible initiative that allows us to create real change, and this year’s charity, The Water Gift, is another excellent opportunity to do just that.

The Water Gift is a locally founded, but widely recognised, independently led initiative dedicated to providing clean drinking water to families in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, with ambitions to expand its reach even further. Unlike large-scale organisations, The Water Gift operates directly, with their staff travelling overseas to partake in education programs with the partner communities on how the solar disinfection stickers work. Their innovation, a specially designed sticker that, when affixed on a water bottle, detects the UV radiation needed to eliminate potentially lethal pathogens, requires minimal infrastructure, ensuring that donations go straight to the communities that need them. For every $1,000 raised, entire villages can have clean drinking water for up to a year.

Since The Water Gift is a small, purpose-driven organisation, our contributions will have an immediate impact, helping extend its work to even more communities. The charity is based here in Wollongong and led by its founder, Dr Martin Butson. You may remember our School’s previous partnership with Dr Butson, where some of our students and past Student Leaders assisted in making more than 50,000 of the disease-preventing SAFE stickers. In Week 6, he will return to speak at our Senior School Assembly and answer questions from Year 12 students who have already begun working together to raise money.

As part of our continued fundraising efforts, the annual Illawarra Grammar Trivia Night will be held in Term II, with preparations already underway. This event is a great way for the Illawarra Grammar community to come together in support of the cause. One of the key fundraising opportunities on the night is the silent auction, where items donated by Illawarra Grammar families will help raise money for The Water Gift. 

If you have an item to contribute or would like to make a donation to the Trivia Night, you can do so through the SRC or by contacting the School; we would greatly appreciate your generosity.

Charlee Ducat (Year 11), Alyssa Jeffries (Year 12) and Yasmin Matar (Year 11)

Following the commendable participation of former attendee and current Deputy Head Prefect, Alyssa Jeffries, who has engaged with the NSW Youth Parliament program for the past two years, this year Charlee and Yasmin submitted successful applications that will allow them to take part in the initiative over the year ahead.

For young Australians who are passionate about politics, advocacy and leadership, Youth Parliament provides a unique opportunity to cultivate essential skills, engage in constructive debate and contribute to policy discussions that can shape the future.

Alyssa reflects on her experience, describing Youth Parliament as “enlightening” and instrumental in her career aspirations. “It truly helped clarify my goals for the future,” she shares. “I forged meaningful connections and developed valuable skills that enhance my experience.”

Participants in the Youth Parliament represent their local electorates and collaborate to draft and debate legislation. Alyssa represented the electorate of Heathcote, where she engaged with pressing local issues and participated in policy discussions. “Initially, I felt hesitant to speak, thinking I lacked sufficient knowledge. However, by my second year, I was actively involved in every debate, engaging consistently with ministers and MPs,” she explains. “This active participation enriched my overall experience.”

A vital aspect of the program is the bill-writing process, designed to ensure that young voices are heard at the highest levels of State Government. The bills developed during the program are then presented to relevant ministers. Participants are assigned to committees that devise legislative proposals, which are rigorously examined by opposition members who recommend amendments. “We convened several times a week, collaborating over Zoom to draft clauses and refine our bill,” Alyssa recalls. “It was a demanding yet rewarding process, providing us with genuine insight into the law-making process.”

This year, both Charlee and Yasmin eagerly anticipate their participation in the Youth Parliament, focusing on crucial policy issues. Charlee is affiliated with the Youth Justice Committee, addressing youth crime and rehabilitation. Yasmin is contributing to the Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Committee, seeking to enhance support for families navigating the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). “It is essential to ensure families have better access to funding for therapy and crucial services,” Yasmin emphasises.

Looking ahead, both Charlee and Yasmin are enthusiastic about maximising their Youth Parliament experience. Equipped with Alyssa’s advice to “speak up and fully engage,” they are prepared to lend their voices to important policy discussions.

Youth Parliament remains an invaluable platform for young Australians, equipping them with the necessary tools to become future leaders and agents of change. For those committed to making a positive impact, it offers an exceptional opportunity to learn, debate and advocate for meaningful change.