Principal Team Report

One of the most wonderful parts of travelling is coming home. It is always valuable to remind ourselves how truly fortunate we are in this land we all share. A big thank you to Judy Anderson for her work as Acting Principal. I would also like to thank Cameron Patience for supporting our 10 students who attended the NASA trip along with other schools in our Network. All learned so much, please see the article in this newsletter for more on their experience.

We wish our Year 12 cohort the very best in the coming weeks as they prepare for examinations and the world beyond school. Senior School have done an amazing job in supporting our young people, and particularly Sharon Sharpe, as their Learning and Wellbeing Leader. The cohort has been a credit to the school, their families and themselves. We are all very proud of them. It has been a pleasure to work with the Senior Executive team this year. Lara Williams, Amy Parsons and Aiden Carmichael have been outstanding in their commitment to learning and their fellow students. They have participated fully in school life, Lara and Amy have also been excellent members of School Council. What defines the three of them for me is their genuine goodwill and empathy towards others and the humble and mature way they have gone about fulfilling their roles. They have set a high bar for future student leaders, indeed for all of us.

As a school, we have been incredibly focused on school improvement. School Council has again submitted to the State Government for funding our Master Plan. At this stage, it appears we may be successful in our submission for Student Toilet Block upgrades, but we will have to wait until November to find out. In the meantime, we have undertaken our own upgrades with painting of many external buildings, new signage and student drinking bubblers. Artwork designed by our own students! They look fantastic. Our Year 7s through a cross curricular project, are embarking on creating their own indigenous garden and we look forward to their progress! We are enormously grateful to families for their financial contribution to the Building and Library funds. These contributions really do count.

It was disappointing, however, to see that our Parent and Carer survey only had a completion rate of approximately 6%. We all know surveys can drive us to distraction, but we need your input so that we can effectively acknowledge and improve our own performance as a school. The data itself is yet to be released. My genuine thanks to the families who completed the survey. 

Some reminders: our Spring Music Concert is on October 20, followed by our Art and Technology Exhibition opening on October 27. Both of these events are fantastic showcases for the talents, creativity and excellence of our students. We may not be the biggest school in the Network but out students achieve wonderful learning experiences. Let us be proud of all of them! Everyone is invited to our Presentation Evening on December 4. It is an evening for all to celebrate our wonderful young people. We look forward to your company.

Fern Brisbane

College Principal