Secondary

Dear Families

Welcome to the 2025 new year! It has been wonderful to welcome students as they have returned this week from what I hope has been a safe and enjoyable summer break. A particularly warm welcome to our new Year 7 students, new Years 8 to 10 students and their families; we hope that you have enjoyed the first week and feel settled within the community very soon. 

Term 1 Key Dates

In greeting students this week, I spoke of three ways in which they can commence the new year with a positive resolve for a successful year:

Thank you for your support in upholding high expectations and standards for our students. Together, we can set a positive tone for the year ahead to ensure that students have every opportunity to flourish at school and achieve their personal best. 

The beginning of the school year is often a time of congested traffic flow in and around the College. Please be courteous of other drivers and mindful of student safety when waiting to drop off or pick up your child before and after school. 

Parent Information Evening: Tuesday 18 February, 5:30pm-8:00pm

All Secondary parents, guardians and caregivers are welcome to attend this year’s Parent Information Evening. The event will start at 5:30pm with a welcome and presentation from College Principal, Daniel Mahon. Following this, there will be a diverse selection of information sessions and guest speakers that parents will be able to book individually based on their interests and the age of their child. Assistant Deputy Principals from Years 7 to 12 will be presenting information relevant to their year group. Sessions can be booked here. 

This year, parents can pre-order a sausage sizzle cooked by Pilgrimage students from 5:00pm in the Chisholm Pavilion. Proceeds will support the fundraising efforts for this year’s Pilgrimage in July. Orders can be made when registering your attendance for the evening. 

The evening’s program can be found here: 

Address Collection Notice 

The Australian Government Department of Education would like to notify parents that we have requested for your child’s school to provide residential address and other information. 

Under the Australian Education Regulations 2023, the College is required to provide the department with the following information about each student at the College:

• names and residential addresses of the student’s parent(s) and/or guardian(s) 
• student residential address (excluding student names)
• whether the student is a Primary or Secondary student (education level) 
• whether the student is boarding or a day student (boarding status). 

The school collects the above information by generating a unique and unidentifiable student reference number (SRN) for each student record. The school only uses the SRN for this collection. The SRN cannot be used for any other purpose. The number only indicates to the department that each record provided is for one student.

Shani Andrews

Vice Principal - Head of Secondary

Year 7 Starting 2028 Enrolments Now Open!

What you need to know:

Children born between July 2015 - June 2016

Applications close: Friday 7 March 2025

Apply online via Expression of Interest form 

Read our enrolment policy

SPORT

Interhouse Swimming Carnival

Our 2025 Sr Mary Murray Cup Swimming Carnival will take place on Friday 14 February, in the indoor pool at HBF Stadium. Parents and family members are welcome to attend. 

• As a compulsory school day, all students should be in attendance.
• Students are to make their own way to the carnival, drop off from Stephenson Avenue or the back entrance through McGilvray. Students may arrive as early as 7:50am. All must be in attendance by 8:20am.
• Students must be seated in their House areas ready for roll call with their Homeroom teacher at 8:30am.
• Students should wear House shirt with PE uniform.
• Students must wear only College bathers and House swimming caps during competitive swimming events. Students incorrectly dressed will not be allowed to race.
• Dressing up is not appropriate at this event, however, students may wear House coloured zinc.
• Students will need to provide their food/drinks for the day as the kiosk will not be available for students.
• Students unable to participate should bring a note and inform their House Coordinator and Assistant Deputy Principal. Assistance with catering and marshalling will be required during the day.
• Students are responsible for finding their own transport home. Pick-up is to be made from the back of HBF stadium. 
• Please complete this bus transportation link if you are unable to transport your child to and from the venue. 

All parents and spectators welcome, we look forward to seeing you all there! 

The carnival format and program is included as an attachment below:

Swimming Training 

Our swimming training sessions are set to commence next week in the College pool. Training will take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 7:00am to 8:00am in the lead-up to the NAS and ACC A-Division Swimming Carnival. All students are welcome at our morning training sessions, whether the aim is for fitness or making our interschool team. 

Years 9/10 NAS Summer Carnival, Friday 14 March

Years 9/10 Trials will commence in Week 3; please see below for important information: 

• This is a compulsory school day for students. 
• Trials will take place during Weeks 3 and 4, and selected teams will be posted after the second trial. 
• Students may wish to trial for two sports in Week 3 and then decide to focus on one sport in their second trial.
• All students will be involved in the day as either a team member, a student helper for a team or participating in the social grass court Volleyball Tournament at the College.
• Training schedules will be posted in the College notices and sent out to all students next week.
• Students unable to make all training days must communicate their absence with the team coach.
• All students are to meet in the Pavilion in their PE uniform before their trial.

All Year 9 and 10 students are required to complete the nomination form for the teams they wish to trial for. 

• Year 9 Form 
• Year 10 Form 

Week 3

Week 4

First XI Cricket 

All Year 11 and 12 students interested in being a part of the First XI Cricket team, please attend the trial on Monday morning from 7:00am to 8:00am at the College. Games will be on Tuesday afternoons, leaving school at lunchtime and returning by 4:30pm. It is a fantastic team to be a part of, and we look forward to seeing you there. 

Nomination Form

SSWA Tennis Trials

Trials will be held for the one-day tennis carnival teams in Week 2. 

• Years 7 to 12 Girls: Monday 10 February 6:50am -8.00am
• Years 7 to 12 Boys: Thursday 13 February 6:50am -8.00am

All must attend to be considered for the team. If you cannot make the session but would like to be a part of the team, email the teacher in charge before the trial (Miss Power for girls, Mr O'Hara for boys). Trials will be at the outdoor tennis courts (near E block).

Students are to provide their own racquets and bring a water bottle. Please be on time to assist with net set up.

Congratulations, Grace!

During the 2024 summer holidays, Grace showcased her exceptional swimming talent at the State Age Swimming Championships, earning an impressive five gold medals. She claimed three individual titles in the 50m, 100m, and 200m Breaststroke events for Girls 13 years and contributed to her team's success in the4x50m Medley Relay and 4x50m Freestyle Relay. Congratulations to Grace on this outstanding achievement! Grace is now focused on her next challenge as she prepares to compete at the 2025 Nationals in Brisbane, scheduled for April.

Jessica Pillera

Head of Sport