From the Principal's Desk

Oh my… did we Book an Adventure…last week, with the theme for Book Week 2025 and brought to us by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. As always, it was a magic morning with a kaleidoscope of colour and creativity. Thank you to all our families for supporting this happy morning and in so doing supporting your children to find their love for reading. We recognise that there will be a book that sets off that spark for every child, and a joyous world will then unfold.  I hope this will then lead to a lifetime of reading.

It seems hard to believe that we have had 80 years of Children’s Book Week. This sits amongst our knowledge that 80% of Australians have read a book in the past year, a figure that is on the decline with particular concern amongst men and younger generations limiting their reading. With this knowledge we continue to look to ways to encourage a reading culture. And this included a DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) opportunity in our classes last Monday; with everyone spending 10 mins of each class reading a novel. And I really ask that families support us in this endeavour by reading as a family, talking about the books we are reading, and obviously limiting screen time. 

Rounding out our Literacy Festival, the Edible Book competition has taken place. Always a marvellous event and this year did not disappoint. Thank you again for those who not only baked but in so doing had their cake sliced and sold with the profits going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). This is a highly practical segment of our Festival.

This week the Class of 2025 have begun their Trials, the result of which will, along with their internal assessments, create their class rank. The remaining weeks after the Trials move to a very collaborative learning environment where collectively the group works for the best grade for all. A highly supportive approach, which is the essence of our School culture anyway, will allow this wonderful group of students to see the end of their formal schooling surrounded by long-term friends and classmates. We wish all our Year 12s and Year 11 accelerants, every good wish in this challenging time.

And of course, whilst our HSC students are writing their papers, Year 10 have this week been on Camp. It seems to be the very best snow conditions for decades, so let us hope that all students, whether experienced skiers, or beginners, come back with magic memories and stories they will long recall when they gather at Alumni functions long into the future… and speaking of memories, the gathering of 75 Alumni at the Long Reef Surf Club recently for a night of Trivia, and so much more, was a spectacular success. 

With Alumni spanning the years 1985 to the Class of 2024, it was a fabulous event. And just quietly, the Teachers Table (Walmsley, Goldrick, Demasi, Finney, McClean, Hillier) were equal winners of past and much revered Staff Member and Trivia King, Mr Maydo’s extremely difficult Trivia questions, placed equally with the PHAA Committee Table… 

I conclude with an important piece of writing… Keeping Our School Safe Online. The issues are vital for all users of technology: How we are proactively addressing cybersecurity; why cybersecurity matters; what we are doing and finally, What Families Can do… Please read this material and understand the importance of this shared responsibility in all facets of our lives. I acknowledge the work of our Director of Technology, Mr Adam Fisher along with his IT team for their ongoing work in Keeping Our School Safe Online. I commend this to you.

With every good wish for the weeks ahead.