Head of Secondary Message, Term 4, Week 4 2026

AISHK was a sea of bright colours today as students and staff celebrated Diwali. We are privileged to be part of such a culturally diverse school community, with over 25 nationalities represented in our student body. By acknowledging important cultural events and festivals like we did today, we honour the traditions and heritage of our community while building intercultural understanding and perspective. A big thank you to everyone who organised fun activities throughout the day.

In Secondary school, today was also an opportunity to raise awareness about men’s mental health, with many wearing blue in support of this cause. There were numerous student-led activities throughout the day, including a BBQ at lunchtime. The day was an initiative of our newly appointed school prefects, who have shown outstanding leadership skills thus far. It’s also ‘Movember’, which has a long history at AISHK. While the efforts of male staff and senior students to grow facial hair this month may have dubious fashion value, Movember aims to break the stigma of men talking about health matters and shine a light on the biggest health risks that men of all ages face. We look forward to seeing all the AISHK moustaches flourish.

Congratulations to the Year 12 HSC students who this week finished their exams. They can now enjoy the well-deserved sleep-ins and study-free days that come with finishing high school. Our IBDP students still have a week of exams to go, and they have our full support as they enter the final furlong of their educational journey.

It was wonderful to catch up with many Year 11 families at last night’s parent-student-teacher conferences. During the evening, there was a special presentation from the careers advisors about the key steps and deadlines for applying to university. One of the main messages from Mr Wray was to start having conversations about post-school pathways as soon as possible. While final course preferences are not due until later in Year 12, there are many more decisions that come with leaving school, including which city or country to study in, and what kind of accommodation to take up. Our careers advisors are always available to field questions from families, no matter what year level your child is in, so please make use of their services.

Congratulations to our ACAMIS volleyball teams who performed exceptionally well last weekend in Shenzhen, especially our girls’ team who claimed first prize. Term 4 continues to be extremely busy from a sporting perspective, with attention now turning to ACAMIS touch and the AISA games in the next fortnight. Good luck to all Roos athletes as you train and prepare for these marquee events.

Wishing all Secondary families a fun and fabulous weekend!