When the founding staff of Yarra Valley Grammar were commissioned in 1966 to 'guide and instruct' the students in their care, they understood something profound about education, something that remains at the heart of our school today.
To instruct is to impart knowledge, to equip young minds with the skills and understanding they need to navigate the world. However, to guide is something deeper. It speaks of relationships, of walking alongside, of a shared journey.
True education is never simply the filling of a mind; it is the shaping of a person. That vision, one that holds both rigour and care, knowledge and wisdom, is the foundation upon which everything at Yarra Valley Grammar is built, and it is one I am honoured to carry forward with you.
It is no accident that our school's motto, Levavi Oculos, I lift up my eyes, finds its echo in the geography of this place. For sixty years, students have arrived on this campus and been met by the Dandenong Ranges. They stand as a constant reminder that education is never merely inward-looking; it calls us upward, beyond the comfortable, beyond what we already know ourselves to be.
To lift up one's eyes is an act of courage and of hope. It is the posture of someone who believes that more is possible. At Yarra Valley Grammar, that belief is not simply a sentiment on a crest, it is the lived experience we seek to offer every individual who walks through our gates.
This is, at its heart, what Yarra Valley Grammar has always been: a learning community that nurtures the confidence to achieve. Not confidence as arrogance, nor achievement as the mere accumulation of results, but the deep, quiet assurance that comes from being genuinely known, supported, and challenged.
Here, we walk alongside our students, so that they leave our gates not only with knowledge and capability, but with the belief that they are equal to whatever lies ahead. That has been our commitment since 1966, and it remains so today.
I am delighted to welcome you to our community, Yarra Valley Grammar.
Dr Amy Van Arkkels
Principal
