Principal's Press

Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome to Week 5! Over the last two weeks I have spent some time meeting with each staff member in short ‘speed’ interviews getting to know them, their reflections on the College and praying with them for the year ahead. What has stood out to me is the deep commitment of staff to the College, their love of our community here and the excitement for all the changes that are underway at the College.

I would love to meet with parents and hear about your journey with the College – why not come and visit me for coffee at pick up time on Thursdays? We’re moving our parent tea and coffee time to Thursday afternoons from 2:45-3:15 pm at the Library foyer (downstairs).

Congratulations to our Swimmers!

It has been a hot start to the year and our swimmers have enjoyed the opportunity to jump in the pool and sprint ahead.

Congratulations to the following outstanding swimmers for their performance at the Zone swimming carnival:

• Jared Owers broke the 50m Breaststroke record for 16 yr olds with a time of 36.33 (the record was originally 37.26).
• We had several of our students awarded Age Champion:
  • Primary – Savannah Wade (8 yrs Girls)
  • Secondary – Zandrea Swart (12 yrs Girls)
  • Secondary – James Klavins (12 yrs Boys)
  • Secondary – Mackenzie Tarbit (13 yrs Girls)
  • Secondary – Jared Owers (16 yrs Boys)

A huge thank you to all the students and parents who volunteered and helped run these events!

College Calendar

To assist parents with planning ahead for the year, please find attached a College Calendar with major events. We will communicate in the newsletter if any of these dates needs to change. Once the Compass app is launched parents will be able to see the full range of events that are on for their children.

Please particularly note the upcoming Open Night event, a chance to encourage your friends to tour the College and hear some information about classes next year. Our enrolments for 2026 are open and this night will be an important opportunity for interested families to consider the College and start their journey to join our amazing community. Click the image below to book a tour!

Compass Update and Billing

The Compass app is nearly ready for parents and carers to access. In the app you will be able to:

• View your child(ren)’s attendance records
• Add absentee reasons
• View student reports (when released)
• View the College calendar
• View student timetables, including events
• Update your contact details
• Access school documents
• View your tuition fees

Tuition fees for 2025 have now been released to families through the Compass app, which means once you can access the app you will be able to view billing and make arrangements regarding payment of fees to the College.

The Importance of Reading for Your Child's Development

Reading is a fundamental skill that plays a crucial role in a child's development and education. Research continually highlights the benefits of regular reading for the development of a child. Reading helps develop a child’s memory, literacy, creativity, empathy and understanding of others, and the impacts on health, academics, employment and even behaviour compound over a life-time (even into future generations)! Books expose children to diverse characters and situations and provide a safe way to introduce tricky topics, different ways of thinkings and diverse cultures. A study by Scholastic found that 83% of children love or like being read to a lot!

In academic studies it is well established that frequent reading is one of the most impactful practices a family can establish that boosts outcomes for their children. The amount of regular reading accounts for 34% of the difference in language-based skills in university students, the case is clear “frequent readers are more successful students” (Mol & Bus, 2011).

Establishing reading for your child can be a challenge, especially when they have the choice between ‘easier’ forms of entertainment. Here are my top tips for engaging your children in reading for a range of ages:

• Set a reading routine where for 15-20 minutes every day you read to your child (or they read independently)

• Create a comfortable reading nook with good lighting

• Incorporate reading in other activities – have your children read instructions, recipes, letters/emails, directions, signs while driving/shopping, etc

• Restrict access to screens to set times only, children’s brains (and adults too!) will default to the ‘easier’ option

• Establish a system where children earn ‘screen-time’ using their reading time (e.g., 20 minutes of screen time earned for an hour of reading – accumulated over the week to be ‘spent’ on the weekend)

• Role model – show your children your love of books by reading around them

• Find books on topics that interest your child – visit the library regularly

• Consider e-books (and e-libraries), audiobooks, and reading apps

• Set reading goals and rewards – e.g., read the book then we’ll watch the movie.

• Encourage them to participate in reading challenges like Premier’s Reading Challenge (coming soon!) or other events

Rotary Peace Day

It was a pleasure last Sunday to attend the Rotary Peace Day ceremony with our College Captains. I learned that Wagga Wagga was the first Rotary Peace Community formed internationally, and I was encouraged by the rich variety of services and action that occur here to support all people. Our College Captains were pleased to accept the School Community Service award on behalf of the College.

Safeguarding our Students

Here at the College we celebrate that our community is rich in diversity and also that our staff are highly involved in the broader Wagga Wagga community. As a result of our rich community engagement, many staff have a broad range of interactions with students both inside and outside the College. This year we have updated our Staff Code of Conduct and all staff have undertaken training around the high standards of professional boundaries that they are expected to have as employees in a school who have a responsibility to safeguard vulnerable young people.

The following are important general rules that all staff are expected to follow as far as reasonably practicable:

• Staff should avoid physical contact with a student unless necessary and with consent
• Staff should avoid being alone in an enclosed space with a student
• Staff should not use nicknames for students, or allow students to use nicknames for them
• Staff should not give gifts to individual students without permission from the Principal
• Staff should not be connected to students on social media or via personal (non-College) email addresses
• Staff may not develop a relationship with a student that could be reasonably interpreted as showing a personal (e.g. social or romantic) interest rather than professional interest
• Staff may not ask questions about a student’s sexuality or relationships, nor may they disclose intimately personal details about themselves.
• Staff may not tutor/coach students without the permission of the Principal.
• Staff may not invite students to their homes, visit students at their homes or attend parties or private social events with students without permission from the Principal and the parents/carers.
• Staff must always show respect, maintain confidentiality, role model transparency and accountability for their actions, while actively seeking to prevent harm to children and young people.

The College takes its responsibility for safeguarding young people very seriously. A full copy of the staff code of conduct is available below. If you ever have any concern about staff conduct, please contact the Principal.

Community updates

New Additions

We are delighted to welcome two new additions to our community! Congratulations to Mr Michael De Battista and his wife, Rosie, on the arrival of their firstborn, Raphael, and to Mr Russell Avery and his wife, Carolyn, on the birth of their daughter, Lydia.

Farewell

Yesterday, we gathered for a special all-staff morning tea to honour and farewell one of our incredible Admin team members, Elize. For the past two years, we have been blessed to have Elize and her family as part of our College community since their move from South Africa. As they embark on this new chapter, we pray for God’s guidance and blessings over the Delport family.

2025 Student Residential Address and Other Information

The Australian Government Department of Education requires the College to provide the residential addresses and other information of our students. Please call the College Office to update any changes to your family's details.

Please read the full Collection Notice from the Australian Government Department of Education below.

Unearthed event

Our local churches have collaborated with OliveTree Media to host Karl Faase, Colin Buchanan, Peter Gibbs and Jade Steg to share stories of faith that have helped shape Australia. We’d love to encourage all families to consider coming along and bringing a friend. The event is free, but bookings are required. Unearthed is at 7:30 pm on Thursday 27 February, at The Range Function Centre. See the flyer below for more information and how to book.