Principal 

Thank you for the support and thoughts that have been shared with staff and students after the passing of Alex Hill on Tuesday last week. Members of the College community have generously offered their time and expertise to support senior students at this difficult time; all of these offers have been heartening and helpful. 

The supports for senior students remain in place and will over the coming weeks. The Zachariah Room has been used by some as a quiet reflective space, and students have been provided counselling on request. In addition to existing local supports through counsellors and priority access to HeadSpace, counsellor and psychotherapist Amanda Guilfoyle will be available at the College on Tuesday next week and, dependent on student demand, on other days over the coming months. Kristen Waldron is managing Amanda’s schedule and bookings. We know that students deal with grief in different ways and that this is a long process. Our focus is now on respecting these differences and providing ongoing support. 

Alex’s funeral will be held at the Casterton Town Hall on Friday 20 February at 2:00pm. All students and staff wishing to attend will be able to, and we are currently working through what this will mean for senior classes on that afternoon. This will be an emotional and difficult afternoon for students who choose to attend. So that they are appropriately supported by their parents or family, we will not be taking a bus or transporting students to the service. It is important that students are well-supported, and this cannot be done well if in a large group without parents.

Even though coloured by this sadness, the annual Parent Welcome Drinks last Friday night was a successful and important moment for the community to come together. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend, it was pleasing to hear of the successful start made by students and to look forward together to what will be a full and rich year.   

And finally, thank you for your patience as we navigate some teething issues with our new excursion approvals and parent-teacher interview booking platform, Paperly. Excursion requests are now working well, and you can approve any that come to you simply by following the link in the email. You do not need to set up an account prior. The invitation for Year 9-12 Parent-Mentor Interviews will be resent once a small glitch is ironed out.