Principal Report

Principal’s Message – Term 3 2026 Newsletter

Dear Melba Community,

I write this article in a bus as we head towards Kakadu and I want to share a story of two worlds and the power of community.

Melba College has some amazing things happening. New, state-of-the-art facilities being built, new activities/excursions to complement learning in our classrooms and learning walks through our classrooms in showing great learning happening across the school. Our amazing Year 12s are getting close to exam season with the finish line drawing closer in sight.

With all this happening, I reflected on a question about schooling that I’ve been asked and people often ask over dinner when talking about schooling. The question being - what is better, public school or private? I believe this is better reframed as a question of: Does the school have a passion for getting the best for my child and has a positive school community?

 In this, I feel passionately about the answer I think reflects our school: Melba College has a strong core; teachers that are motivated to get the best for students, students that I hear compliments on more often than not for their care and demonstration of STRIVE values and a school-wide dedication to improvement as a school. Melba College is full of good and passionate people, and that is - in my opinion - more important than many of the perks I hear when people try to justify private schooling. I mention this semi- regularly in newsletters and do believe that school and schooling is more than building and books - it is people and connection - and Melba College has this in spades.

I recently saw these two worlds, public and private, collide and I was struck by this idea being borne out in reality. I saw a prestigious private school group running largely unsupervised, being uncaring to the rights of others and acting in a way that I would call entitled. In contrast, I observed our Melba students being gracious, patient and reporting what they knew was wrong so that it could be righted. The contrast was stark and I was proud of our students and it re-emphasised to me that fees don’t make good humans, care and support does.

As we move towards the end of Term 3, I am pleased to report that our Stage 3 rebuild is on track and we may even be lucky enough to have both stages completed ready for Day 1 2027. Walking through the buildings during this build has only grown more exciting over time. I can’t wait to share this with the school community when we open it. I acknowledge the disruption that build works can cause and want to thank the college community for its flexibility.

As I conclude this article, I want to wish our Year 12s good luck and all the best on their final leg of secondary school. You have all you need and I encourage you to give your best in this last push. We are proud of you. For all our other students, I give a similar message - lock in for this last term and give your all. This sets you up for future success and honours yourself as well as those that support you. STRIVE for your best and look forward to the learning and memories to come!