Head of Secondary Years' Report 

As we prepare to move into the holidays, there is so much to celebrate from Term One. 

Harmony Day and World Down Syndrome Day were acknowledged on the 21st  March. The celebrations for the day were led by Wood House, and students in Secondary Years were asked to wear orange to show their support for this important day. 

Harmony Day is a celebration that recognises Australia’s diversity and aims to bring together people of different backgrounds. It is all about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. 

You will see in the Celebrations of Learning and Community section of this report, that the cast of the HGC 2024 production Mary Poppins have been chosen, and they have already started working on what will be a fabulous show. 

This week saw the conclusion of our 2024 

NAPLAN testing period. During the past couple of weeks, almost 500 students from Years 7 and 9 have completed 4 tests, and we are grateful to all of the staff and students for their support at this busy time. 

After the success of our fun-filled swimming carnival, we are looking forward to the athletics carnival on the 18th April.  This is such a fun event on the College calendar, so don't forget to consent to the event on Compass. 

On Tuesday 26th March, we held our first Secondary Years' assemblies and had the opportunity to hear from the College Principal, Mr Stockwell.

In his address, Mr Stockwell spoke to the students about the end of Term One being a good opportunity for students to reflect on their own personal goals, track how they are going and consider any adjustments they need to make to help them achieve their goals.

Holidays can be a great time to reflect and re-set if needed. The assemblies were a wonderful celebration of community and a great way to end the term. Our 2024 College Captains and Vice Captain hosted the assemblies and our sport captains provided a reflection of the sporting achievements from Term One, along with a reflection of the swimming carnival and promotion of the athletics carnival.  

They also announced the results from the Swimming Carnival: 1st place: Chang, 2nd place: Goodes and 3rd place: Wood!

Members of the cast of Mary Poppins also presented at our assemblies and provided an update on some of the things they are looking forward to next term.

We enjoyed a reflection of the Year 6 Camp, the Year 9 retreat and Year 9 City Experience, and enjoyed the Year 6 Instrumental Musical Academy student performance. 

We ended the assembly by announcing our Term One Good Samaritan awards to recognise students who have been nominated by their teachers for displaying the College values.  Congratulations to the Term One recipients. 

On Tuesday 26th March, we also hosted an Information Evening and Tours for prospective Year 7 students. If you know of students who are considering enrolling at HGC for Year 7 in 2025, please encourage them to attend one of our few remaining tours or reach out to our enrolment team. 

We trust that you all appreciated the opportunity to meet with teachers on Wednesday to discuss your child's progress in a range of subjects. 

Thank you to our families for your continued support. We hope that you enjoy the holidays, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 15th April.

Sonia Goodacre

 Head of Secondary Years