From the Acting Principal 

It Is Important To Remember                           

Today we celebrated Remembrance Day. It is important to remember significant days in history that not only define who we are today but also who we will be in the future. 

For our students, learning about the significance of these days in history gives them a sense of how their world came to be and also a context around the experiences their grandparents and great grandparents grew up with. I am fascinated with history (yes, a maths teacher is saying that!) and I am inspired by the learning our teachers facilitate for our students in the classroom, creating curiosity and creativity that fosters deep learning. 

I have said before a number of times in this Newsletter that our future is in good hands with the young people coming through school to “rule the world”, so to speak. I am not being biased when I add that it is specifically Moama Anglican Grammar young people that I am most referring to. Two great examples of Moama Anglican Grammar students, who are doing great things beyond school to make our world better … and safer, are Bailey Steenbuck and Nicholas Farr-Jones who spoke at our Remembrance Day assembly today.

Bailey graduated from Moama Anglican Grammar in 2019 and joined the Australian Defence Force in 2020. He is currently at HMAS Albatross NSW as an AVN Aviation Support Sailor as part of 725/816 Squadron. Bailey’s job involves securing helicopters to the ship's deck as well as refuelling, towing, washing and marshalling helicopters. He is also fully trained in helicopter crash response and is equipped to put out fires and rescue personnel in or around a helicopter if one was ever to crash on deck. Bailey is currently posted on His Majesty’s Australian Ship Canberra, a LHD class ship which is Australia’s version of an aircraft carrier.

Nicholas also graduated from Moama Anglican Grammar in 2019 and is currently a Private serving in the Australian Army as an infantry man specialising in radio communications. He is based in Townsville at Lavarack Barracks 3 RAR (also known as “Old Faithful”) and has trained to be a soldier in the Royal Australian Regiment. Nicholas has been on two deployments. Last year he went to Malaysia for approximately five months and more recently to the Philippines for approximately three months.

These young men spoke so well and gave our current students a real insight into the huge variety of jobs involved in working in the Defence Force and how important it is to remember those before them who served to help make Australian what it is today.

A huge thank you must go to Mrs Mel Scott for organising and running our Remembrance Day assembly and to our student leaders and musicians who all performed so well.

Here at school, Semester 2 marks two significant occasions signified by two factors of 12 (I had to add some maths into this article!). Our Year 12s finished their year with a lovely Graduation ceremony and what should have been a seamless examination period for them. During the worst of the floods our HSC students could not sit examinations for two weeks and then a group of them sat them in the last week of the examination period when the school had opened again. There were lots of phone calls made to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and students and many forms filled in, both written and electronic, to make sure that our HSC students will be given the appropriate consideration when results are calculated. A huge thank you to Mrs Hayley Catt for her work in getting much of this organised and completed. 

Last Friday we also had a lovely evening celebrating our HSC Body of Work, where our HSC Creative and Performing Arts and Technology students were able to showcase their very impressive work. Thank you to teachers Codie Ellis, Rosalind Paterson, Danny Hindson, Annie Pinson, Kim Day and Lauren Douglas who organised, ran and packed up after the evening.

In a few weeks we look forward to our Year 6s (the other factor of 12!) graduating and it being celebrated at the Year 6 Graduation Dinner. This is always a wonderful evening and although our Year 6s are mostly just moving across the quadrangle next year it is still important to acknowledge the milestone of graduating from Year 6. It is also important to remember where they have all come from as little Kinder students all those six years ago. I vividly remember many of them back then and have really enjoyed seeing how they have grown in that time.

Take care everyone. The effects of the floods are not over for some and our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you.

Kathleen Kemp

Acting Principal