We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Article to Bring You This Important Message

The Norfolk House motto was adopted from the Norwich High School for Girls by Julia McDermott and Dora Atkins, both who taught there before coming to Victoria and starting Norfolk House School in 1913. It said: Do thy best and rejoice with those that do better. Upon the amalgamation of Norfolk House and Glenlyon in 1986, the Board of Directors combined the mottos from both NHS and Glenlyon read: Do Your Best Through Truth and Courage.

However, rejoicing with those that do better is not forgotten. The school endeavours to recognise every student’s achievements at every opportunity, from Friday Morning Live assemblies through to Closing Ceremonies and at many other events in between. It is important both to the student and the school to do so. The school also tries to keep track of former students’ achievements after leaving, but that often depends upon their own contact with the school.

Knowing, recording, recognizing, and sharing information and news about our school’s past, and many of its former staff and students, as well as ensuring coverage of an abundance of current news from every section of the GNS community, is a massive and important exercise for which there are many different avenues available for us to do this. And yet, we can fall short of doing this successfully. During our efforts to include people and events some get left out. Not always knowingly, and never intentionally, just inevitably. What would help is that it requires those given the task at the school to update and retell, must firstly hear about the news and this is where you, the GNS community, come into the process. 

While doing the Gryphon Gallery articles, for example, most of the subjects have deliberately come from the past and in many cases it is about telling these stories in a way that provides an understanding of where the school and its significant events, staff and alumni have come from, what was achieved and how that contributed to weaving the historic fabric of the school. Occasionally an article includes something about the present, but most often that kind of posting comes from other sources within the school.

But regardless of who posts the information, most often we rely on the updates and shared news from you, our GNS community. My point is, some things get missed because we don’t hear about them. So please, please let us know what is happening in the GNS world – we don’t guarantee that it will be retold, or that it can be turned into an article, but it has a much better chance if we hear about it in the first place. Then maybe we can all rejoice with those that have done something special or learn about an event that has made an impact in our school’s wonderful journey! 

Thank you… Normal service will resume next week!