Principal's Message

Dear Parents & Friends,

What an amazing conclusion to our first semester of 2024! 

Last Friday, we celebrated the investiture of Steve Kidd who received an OAM for his contribution to the Arts and Education. The Administrator of the NT, the Honorable Professor Hugh Heggie, traveled from Darwin to hand over the impressive medal and pass on his congratulations. His Honour mentioned that four of his six children attended St Philip’s College and he was pleased to see the development of the campus over the years. 

This week, we welcomed back former staff members Dave & Sue Armstrong. Dave is currently principal of Wangaratta High School and Sue is teaching at Galen Catholic College. Their son, Alec, participated in our Year 11 Aspire program and Dave considers the St Philip’s Outdoor Education program to be the best in the country. 

On Tuesday, we welcomed Professor Veena Sahajwalla to open our long-anticipated Discovery Centre. She spoke to the students, staff, donors and honored guests about what we can all do to make a difference to our community and planet. She also gave her time, in the afternoon, to meet with any interested members of the public. With great passion, she explained how we need to think about the way we can reuse everything – such as motherboards, remotes and lithium batteries. 

On Wednesday, we held our second Year 8 Learning Expo. It was great to see the new integrated approach to learning which produced everything from amazing landform models, speeches, and play scripts all related to a single theme. As we continue to develop and improve this approach, we look forward to utilising the space available in the Discovery Centre. 

On Thursday and Friday, we welcomed back our Year 11 students from the Aspire program. Also on Friday, Linda Tsai returned with a group of Year 9 students who participated in a “Women in STEM” program hosted by Flinders University. 

We finished off the week with our Academic Assembly and I would like to congratulate all those students who achieved first in their subject. 

After such a busy first half of the year I wish everyone a safe and relaxing holiday break, and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday 22 July. 

Kind regards,

~ Leslie Tilbrook

Principal