Principal's Report

If no mistake you have made, but losing you are. A different game you should play.

Yoda, Jedi Master  896BBY-4ABY

Welcome to the final newsletter for Term 3. It is always interesting how quickly the end of term can rush up on us - I tend to find myself scrabbling around on the last day of term trying to tie up all the loose ends so that I can get home and make a start of emptying my head and recharging ready for the next term - and in that sense I'm sure I'm not alone.

A long time ago I'm sure it seemed that some terms were quieter than others but that is no longer the case, they start fast and end that way as well. 

Can I firstly thank all of the staff, students and community members involved in our Academy II Farewell Assembly  on Wednesday 26 September. It is a wonderfully poignant occasion where it is difficult for everyone present not to reflect on the past, the present and the future. Despite protestations to the contrary Mr Wittig was at his eloquent best yet again in highlighting the need for OPTIONS. It is indeed what we are all about, although we can phrase it differently at times. I often use the analogy with students that options are like a set of keys - you can have one key that opens one door or many keys that open many - your education and the quality of it determined by the effort that you apply determines the number of keys you end up with. One of the things that schools and society are good at is developing the mindset that the only place to get your keys is at school. Nothing could be further from the truth. Learning should take place anywhere, anytime and throughout one's life. This is the key message we are striving to instil in all of our students; we want them to have a functioning moral compass; we want them to have a high degree of personal integrity; we want them to be compassionate and mostly we want them to Stand tall and Walk proud. We wish all of our Academy students the best of luck in the Higher School Certificate examinations and we specifically wish our graduating Academy II students every success as they embark on the next stage of their lives. Uralla Central School is and always will be their school.

The early part of next term will be devoted to some furious final planning in anticipation of our rollover in Week 6 and the beginning of the 2019 Academic year, we expect to be in a position to announce staffing and class arrangements in the first newsletter of Term 4. The major events of the term will be Presentation Day - Thursday 15 November (Day Assembly at 10.00am and Night Assembly at 6.00pm) followed by our Celebration of Learning Day, which this year will be enhanced by our Showcase of the school and what happens in it. We hope to see as many parents and carers as possible on the afternoon of Friday 16 November.

In the meantime enjoy the Spring break drive carefully if you are going away, hopefully we will get some more rain, don't forget to cherish your children and we'll see you all again next term. 

The capacity to learn is a gift;

The ability to learn is a skill;

The willingness to learn is a choice.

Frank Herbert (1920-1986) Author of Dune