Chronicle 2017

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Havergal engages ALL OF THE SENSES

HELEN-KAY DAVY Principal, Havergal College

It could be that one of your strongest memories of the ‘Five Senses’ per se is based on the occasion of a past English class in which you were asked to write a descriptive essay and were told that the best way to create a vivid experience for your readers is to focus on the five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. In the profiles in this edition of the Chronicle , you will find vivid storytelling par excellence by Old Girls whose lives have been exemplars of the use and exploration of our senses. The students at Havergal today are just as interested as you were in thinking about what the senses bring to us and how we should value, use and share them. In Junior School Prayers one morning in April, I was speaking to the girls about how the senses are both literally and metaphorically essential for the development of empathy as individuals and as a community. They help us to approach life in a multi- faceted way so that we are enriched and thus enrich others, sharing gifts in different ways. Among others, I was aided that morning by two students from Grade 5 who spoke about their experiences. Hilary Cameron 2024 spoke about taste through her love of cooking in the cookery club. She ably demonstrated how cooking is both an art and a science before going on to describe exuberantly how cooking, especially the end product, engages all of our senses. The highlights of this presentation were the messages that, “All we need are taste buds that are ready for a workout,” and “Cookery club is certainly the place where we get to make our cake and taste it too!”

Emma Heydary 2024 talked about the sense of touch by describing her family farm and the experience of touching and stroking the animals there. These include chickens, ducks, geese, cows and calves, lambs, barn cats, alpacas and peacocks. “Touching and feeling animals is a pleasant feeling and brings me close to nature,” she said. The same day, I was treated to an exceptional show of talent and creative interpretation in the Senior School at the production of Girls by our dance troupe. This was true creativity on the stage, making the audience think about messages powerful and present through stimulation of our senses. Indeed, reflection about what the senses mean to us runs through many programs at Havergal. The Grade 4s recently considered the question, “How are light and sound used to benefit people?,” while Grade 8s have been studying the impact of sound without sight in their drama lessons, giving me a presentation of their ideas in their Soundscape performances. Using the senses is something whichwe appreciate and value at Havergal – through the sharing of meals with each other, our music, words and love. The passing of the Torch symbolizes this appreciation perfectly in the Candlelight Ceremony each year. I hope that, in your mind’s eye, you are now seeing the ways in which Havergal lifted your senses in the past and that I have succeeded in giving you a taste of Havergal present. As you read on through this edition of the Chronicle , I am sure that you will smell and feel again those moments of magic and hear the school song once more….

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