Welcome back to Meriden for 2024. I hope all families have had a restful break over Christmas. A special welcome to the girls and their families who are new to Meriden. All new Senior School families are warmly invited to the Welcome to Meriden Evening hosted by the Parents and Friends’ Association tomorrow, from 6:00pm in Wallis Auditorium, followed by canapes in the GCMD. Please click here to register.
Meriden has been busy over the break. The DaCA building project has made good progress and a number of other initiatives on the campus have also been put in place.
The Europe History tour was a great success – thirty-six students and five teachers learned about Roman civilisation in Italy, and they braved the cold of Germany to learn about the rise and fall of the Nazi party in Germany in the early twentieth century.
At the end of December, a group of students who study French, made their way to the Bordeaux region with Ms Priscilla Curran to take part in a three-week exchange. The girls had an amazing experience, including two weeks of school and a French Christmas, and returned on New Year’s Eve. We look forward to the return exchange which will see Meriden families host French students in mid-February.
As it is the start of the school year, I would like to remind all parents to please drive carefully and slowly when dropping off and picking up their daughters. The safety of students and staff is our primary concern – please drive slowly, obey traffic rules and follow the directions of Meriden staff.
The Senior School and Junior School (Years 3 – 6) Swimming and Diving Carnivals take place on Thursday 15 February at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Homebush. All girls are strongly encouraged to take part in this fun event and represent their House with passion.
I would like to highlight three changes to the everyday running of the Senior School, all of which rely on students using their Meriden student cards:
- Signing in at school in the morning – Meriden has implemented a more streamlined system that will use a chip-enabled student card for the girls to sign in each morning. The sign-in kiosks are still located throughout the School, however, the interface will look a little different.
- The Blue Bell Café, our Senior School Canteen managed by Vanilla Blue, has had a remodel. The new service desk looks great and will help with faster service. Girls are reminded that food may be purchased in a number of ways, including by using a Meriden student card (linked to Flexischools) or bank card (physical, not from a mobile phone). Food can also be pre-ordered through Flexischools.
- School buses – the procedure for catching a bus will change slightly in 2024. The school is using a different recording system on the school buses. Students must tap on and off with a new chip-enabled student card. It is very important that girls always have their student cards. Students without their cards will not be able to catch the bus. Please refer to the information located elsewhere in the Newsletter.
Lastly, the NSW Health School Vaccination program begins early this term. All Year 10 students may receive a free meningococcal ACWY vaccination on-site in late February. Further information about this program will be sent to Year 10 families shortly. More information about the NSW School Vaccination Program can be found on the NSW Health website.