Proud to be a school that won't accept a stereotypical future for its students, Mentone Girls' Grammar School uses its WAVES Priorities to guide the specific learning needs of its girls. Translating as Wellbeing, Achievement, Values, Enterprise and Success, the acronym is a daily reminder of where the focus needs to be.
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Principal Fran Reddan says: "I'm excited because we're getting some real traction in the work we do with the girls and the notion of 'enterprise'. It's an important part of 21st century skills; employers need people who are innovative, proactive and who make ideas happen.
"The notion is that they can be independent and run their own living in a future where we don't know what jobs there'll be; you have skills that keep you learning, creating, confident and able to communicate in such a way that gets your ideas across – that encapsulates 'enterprise' for them."
The school's strong focus on and successes with STEM disciplines sit comfortably within the school's vision for opening up the future for its students.
"They can be so capable in that STEM area and when you combine that with their natural tendencies to be good communicators, as well as having those enterprise skills – with a bit of risk taking and boldness – that makes for such a fantastic mix," says Ms Reddan.
The 116 year-old school holds four School Tours at its single campus beachfront location: Saturday, February 28; Saturday, May 23; Friday, August 21 and Saturday, October 24. The student led tours run from 9.15 to 11.30am and take about an hour. There are also plenty of opportunities to speak with the principal and staff. Running the tours over three Saturdays and one Friday means less interruption for the girls. "Classroom time is really precious – I tend to protect that time. I want to try and maintain continuity in the classroom as much as possible," says Ms Reddan.
The Friday tour offers a chance to see the school at work and Mentone Girls' Grammar also offers personal tours.
Another way for prospective students to see if they will enjoy the school is to become a "Mentone Girl for a Day".
This is an option some parents choose to help confirm their decision that it is the best place for their daughter.
"At that stage, they've usually researched the school, attended one or two tours, the school's mission resonates with the family's values and they just want to be sure their daughter will be happy," says Ms Reddan.
"We get to know what the student's interests are and collaborate with the teacher of that year level. Our current students love welcoming Mentone Girls for a Day, and the benefit of it is it's a very natural way of allowing a student to come in and make friends and see what the learning environment is like."
Staff and students enjoy showing their school to visitors. "We've got a fantastic community and you can't help but want to share it with others," says Ms Reddan.
For more details go to: www.mentonegirls.vic.edu.au.
