Senior School

Welcome to Term 2! I trust that you and your family are well, and your children enjoyed some quality, safe holidays and appreciated the opportunity to celebrate the miracle of Easter, and the significance it holds both in the Christian calendar, and in the life of each person who knows Jesus.

Students returned with a great sense of optimism and happiness for second term, after completing the first whole term onsite in two years, which demonstrates the resilience of young people. It is a joy to work with them on a daily basis.

Looking at the amazing standard of the ANZAC Dawn Service it was obvious that students involved practised and rehearsed their parts well for this important commemorative event. We were reminded of the sacrifice that soldiers and others made during the various wars and conflicts which Australia has participated in so that we may live in the freedom we enjoy today. Grace Richards (11.13) also informed us of the dichotomy that existed with the country struggling to locate sufficient people to fight the enemy while indigenous soldiers, who were not regarded as British subjects, were not permitted to enlist to defend their families. The Lord’s prayer and the Bible reading from John 15 provided further stark reminders of sacrifices made. 

The Ode of Remembrance, Last Post, Minute’s Silence and the Rouse ensured we were all focused on the purpose of our gathering. ‘We will remember them’.

The vocal ensemble brought home the finality of war for many people with a moving rendition of Abide with Me, and later with Wayfaring Stranger. An enormous thank you to all students who contributed to making this event a reminder of the debt we owe to our service men and women, and to Mr Stephen White for his oversight and organisation.

We hope you have taken advantage of the opportunity to meet with your children’s teachers to discuss academic progress and next steps. Over 1,000 parent teacher interviews were conducted to assist each student toward the amazing future God has planned. Thank you for your involvement. Please reach out to Year Level Coordinators, Home Group teachers and individual teachers if you have concerns. We hope we are able to conduct the next round of Parent Teacher Interviews in person as we greatly enjoy the community feel which meeting face to face presents.

After two years without examinations for most students, it may be useful to discuss the benefits of upcoming examinations with your child. These are considered as opportunities to practise sitting examinations to allay concerns in the future. Year 7 and 8 students have just three examinations in English, Mathematics and Science. Years 9 and 10 increase the number of examinations, and Year 11 students have an examination for each Unit 1 subject undertaken. 

While we will provide opportunities for preparation of students both in normal class time and through special seminars to start the day on Tuesday 17 May (Year 7 and 8) and Wednesday 18 May (Year 9 and 10), we acknowledge that for some students this can be a stressful time. If your child is feeling more anxious than you expect about upcoming assessments and additional support is required, please let the College know through Year Level Coordinators, Home Group teachers or where appropriate subject teachers. 

It is vital that we all help to put examinations into perspective. They are an important assessment task but are still only one of many substantial tools and not one which should be over-emphasised. While examination results measure performance in a particular domain on a given day and provide a large amount of data to assist with ongoing development, they do not define students or measure the many attributes that constitute a person.

Easter helps us consider God’s amazing and undeserved love for us, which can be hard to fathom, but can provide great peace and security in every situation. The prophet Zephaniah reminds us of the fact that God loves each of us dearly, an invaluable message at any time of life.

The LORD your God is with you,

    the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you;

    in His love He will no longer rebuke you,

    but will rejoice over you with singing.

 Zephaniah 3:17

Greg Barker

Deputy Principal – Head of Senior School