From our Principal
Dear Parents, Students and Friends,
Such is the cycle of the educational landscape, our year twelves have completed their final exams and our year seven students of 2026 arrive on-site for their Orientation Day. It was a wonderful day full of excitement with just a tinge of anxiety as our class of 2031 made their first tentative steps at the beginning of their secondary schooling journey. As staff and leaders, we can take for granted the significance of a moment such as this. For parents it is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. For parents where their child is the first to enter into the secondary school context it can be stepping into the unknown. For others they might be farewelling their youngest child from the primary setting they have called their second home. In respect to our new year seven’s, new peers, new buildings and facilities, new classroom designs, larger school, new teachers, bigger, taller (and therefore scarier students). All of these factors and the surrounding emotions presented themselves to our new year sevens and yet they seemed from the beginning through to the end of the day a group of young people ready to meet all of this newness and the challenges surrounding this day with positivity and excitement. We look forward to welcoming them all next year, on day one, when they begin a special journey with us.
Installation of 2026 House Captains
At our final school assembly of the year, we were able to officially welcome, recognise and install our 2026 house captains. Leadership in our college is not about titles or positions. It is about service, responsibility, and inspiring others to bring out the best in themselves. Our new house captains are expected to carry the torch of student voice and leadership. They are called upon to not just represent their peers but to be models of what it means to live out our College values. Their role is to lead with fairness, act with compassion, and inspire others to walk humbly.
Student leadership therefore is vital to who we are as a community. It reminds us that every voice matters and that together, we are stronger. As house captains, they have the opportunity to foster connection, champion initiatives, and help our school community thrive. I take this opportunity to congratulate our 2026 house captains and wish them well.
How to support your child under 16 with the new social media age restrictions
From 10 December 2025, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 will require social media platforms to:
prevent children and young people under 16 from having a social media account
deactivate or freeze existing accounts held by people under 16.
Delaying access to social media protects the health and wellbeing of young people and gives them extra time to build real world connections and digital literacy skills.
The responsibility will be on the social media platforms, not parents, carers, children or schools, to implement these new restrictions. Most popular social media platforms will be age restricted. These include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit and YouTube.
Messaging services and online games, as well as apps and platforms that support health and education, can still be used.
How to help under 16s prepare for the change
Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their children to be safe online.
To help get under 16s ready for the social media minimum age requirements, you can go to the eSafety website to learn more about the social media age restrictions and find tips on how to talk about social media age restrictions with young people.
What the change means for our school
At our school, most age-restricted social media platforms are blocked for student use on the school network. Our school allows student access to YouTube in a logged-out state. However, this access is restricted so mature content cannot be viewed.
To keep up to date about the new social media age restrictions, visit the eSafety website and subscribe to their newsletter.
Year 12 2026 Retreat
Part of the Headstart program for the year twelve class of 2026 is to attend a retreat. It signals the beginning of their final year of secondary schooling. Many opportunities present themselves to our class of 2026 on retreat. It is an opportunity to bond, an opportunity to set goals, an opportunity to make commitments but most importantly it is an opportunity to reflect on the role faith has played in the past, currently plays and might play in the lives beyond our student’s secondary schooling. We wish both our staff and students every blessing as they engage with the retreat process over the coming days.
Advent – Come Emmanuel
This Sunday we begin the new liturgical year, a time where we transition from cycle C to cycle A and where we will focus on the Gospel of Matthew as we begin the journey of Advent. The book of Matthew is one steeped in the richness of Jesus’s parables and sermons, providing rich pickings in discussing who and what we are called to be. The first Sunday of Advent (this Sunday) is where we witness for the first time the Advent Wreath and the lighting of the first candle, the candle of hope. The first candle takes us back to Isiah’s foretelling of the birth of Christ. May all in our community be a source of hope to those we meet along the Advent journey and beyond.
Pope Francis said it best:
“May we be in this world a ray of light which shone forth from Bethlehem, bringing joy
and peace to the hearts of all men and women.”
Advent Prayer
Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people,
walking in darkness,
yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”
Last edition of the Newsletter for 2025
Thank-you and Best Wishes to Ms Julie Banda
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Julie Banda who leaves us at the end of this year to take on the principalship of St Francis Xavier. Julie has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the Clyde North campus in her role as Deputy Principal Head of Campus. A role that she commenced in 2017. Over the past nine years Julie has been instrumental in creating a culture where every person matters. She has demanded high expectations from staff and students alike. Her preparedness to strive for best practice has been tangible. One sign of a highly effective leader is the legacy they leave behind. Julie’s legacy no doubt is that she leaves the campus in a far better place than when she arrived. Another sign of a highly effective leader is that you have built the capacity of leaders surrounding you so that when it is their turn they are ready to serve. In this case we have a strong team to carry on the work of leading the Clyde North campus.
All the best Julie. We thank you for your leadership and contribution to St Peter’s College and wish you well in your new leadership journey in 2026.
Final thanks
This is my last newsletter and as such I wish to take this opportunity to thank first and foremost parents for entrusting your young person/people to St Peter’s College. It has been a privilege to lead the St Peter’s College community over the past 10 years, the first year as DP Head of Campus (CLN) and the last nine years as Principal. The greatest gift a Principal can receive is to lead and observe the growth and development of our young people from the time they first enter our gates as twelve year old children to the moment they leave our gates for the final time as mature young adults, ready to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. My sincere thanks to the staff of St Peter’s College for generously working alongside me and for their trust in me. St Peter’s are blessed to have a dedicated and committed group of staff whose sole focus is to support and inspire learning within the context of a faith-based, Catholic school environment. Lastly my thanks to all the young people that I have crossed paths with over the years and for the untold number of interactions and engagements which I have had the privilege to be a part of. They have been both enriching and life-giving.
Thank-you and God bless.
Mr Chris Black
Principal