Executive Principal

The final lap

A school year has four terms and can be compared to the 800m running race, which comprises 4 laps of 200m. It is notable that athletes run their fastest speeds in their final lap and often can be clocked at their fastest as they cross the line. The same might be said for students and teachers. It’s not just a run to get everything done, it’s also about finishing strong. With this in mind, we are looking forward to seeing some great efforts this term.

Term 4 is a shorter lap for some students. Year 11 and 12 finish up at the end of Week 3. In fairness, that releases many Year 12’s to enable them to study for and write their TASC exams. Year 10 finishes at the end of Week 7 and the remainder of the school get to the finish line at the end of Week 8.

In the meantime, there is a lot of activity happening in relation to planning and preparing for 2027. It’s exciting to note the Pre-Kinder students attending on Tuesdays (Burnie) and Thursdays (Ulverstone), in preparation for them attending next year.

Behind the scenes, student choices are being worked through, teacher placements and allocations are being finalised, and initial work on a timetable for 2027 is also happening.

The Board is meeting to make decisions to bring the MSO discussions to a favourable close. It was good to refresh on the reasons for establishing a MSO in the original MSO report. It speaks of:

A larger pool from which to draw quality board members.
Greater influence when advocating for Christian education.
Collaborating and sharing in relation to educational offerings.
Flexibility in staff movement.
Strength in establishing common understandings around Christian education.
Extending common understandings around Christian culture and community.
Consolidation of business services with a view to operating more efficiently.

Much has happened in the last months to work out a structure where this can be realistically achieved. I am really grateful that we are getting close to presenting the full picture and seeing these benefits realised, going forward.

Lots of activity; we look forward to the support of the school community in all this.

May God bless it to us all.

Alwyn Terpstra

Executive Principal