Principals Report

What a wonderful couple of weeks we’ve had at the College.  Since the last edition of our newsletter our Year 12 students have celebrated their final day of classes.  They started the day with breakfast at the Gisborne Bowls Club whom we must extend a sincere thanks for their hospitality.  The cohort had their final walk to school following a path along the main streets of Gisborne being cheered on by the community, followed by a whole-school Graduation assembly where they entered to happy cheers from the crowd of students, staff, family and friends.  They’re now well into the examination period and making good use of the study centre and access to their teachers for support.

On the same day our Year 10 students held their Marketplace day, running stalls for all staff and students to partake in whilst raising money for charity.  This day was the culmination of lots of planning and preparation by the students in running a mini-business.  While the weather didn’t exactly shine for them on the day, this certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our students and staff to engage in activities on offer and items for sale.  Congratulations to all involved, it was a certainly a day where the college community spirit was on full display.

Our Year 11 students commence exams tomorrow until the following Friday and will then commence Step-up into their Year 12 subjects for a two-week period.  I wish them well as they transition into their final year of secondary schooling.

In Junior School, our Year 9s have spent their RAID day this week in Melbourne, having fun experiencing Ice Skating at the Icehouse and Glow Golf (mini golf) at Docklands.  Our Year 7 and 8 students are busily completing tasks and assessments over the next couple of weeks in readiness for their Step-Up program in the final weeks of term.

On Friday last week we acknowledged World Teachers Day.  This is an extract of the message I sent to staff on the day “On World Teachers Day, I wanted to write to express my appreciation for the work you all do, both in and out of the classroom. This week alone, I have observed teachers providing wellbeing and pastoral care support to vulnerable students; giving up their own personal time (and survive arctic temperatures!) to take students on surfing adventures; supporting their Year 12’s in the study centre and as they head into and out of exams; planning curriculum together in the staffroom after school; and of course, creating positive and engaging classroom environments, to support our students personal and academic growth. None of things go unnoticed, and I’m so proud to work at a school with such a wonderful group of dedicated teachers.”

We have had numerous sports team head out to compete over the past fortnight as well as our final round of camps for the year – all of these opportunities provide enriching experiences for our students and I invite you to read more about them later in this edition.

Our active Student Representative Council ran a casual clothes day on Halloween with gold coin donation raising funds for The Ehlers Danlos Society. Some funny and creative costumes were on display throughout the day and $293.95 raised for a very good cause.

Our new builders have been progressing their work on the refurbished I-Block into a new Senior School Centre and before the next edition of our newsletter we are scheduled to have formal handover of the building.  This will enable us to move staff into the space as well as bring these learning spaces into the timetable.  These moves will activate other staff movements including staff from the Junior School office moving to the new portables near the staff carpark while their offices are refurbished, and all staff decanting from the main admin building into various spaces across the school in order for that building to be demolished. We will send more detailed information about the movement of College reception to our school community separately as this will be relocating to the portables near the staff carpark also.

Please be reminded that this coming Monday,  6th November is a Student Free Day with no classes running this day. The school will be open for the Yr 12 exams that are scheduled on this day but the school buses will not be in operation.  Tuesday 7th November is a public holiday for Melbourne Cup.  Classes and school buses will resume as normal on Wednesday 8th November.

Also, please note for any school uniform needs, Beleza our uniform supplier is shortly holding a sale, so if you're after any new items this will be an opportune time to stock up - see details in the flyer below. 

Sarah Rose, Principal