Principals Report

We’ve had so many reasons to celebrate over the past few weeks.  I had the pleasure in attending the Macedon Ranges Youth Awards ceremony held at the Kyneton Town Hall on Thursday 10th August.  A number of GSC students were nominated for awards:

Oliver J,for his sporting achievements in Basketball and Whipcracking

Emily D,for her work as Wellbeing Captain, her ongoing support for improving the mental health and wellbeing of GSC students.

Rue K and Harreson W,for being School Captains extraordinaire, leading new initiatives in the student leadership space and supporting their fellow captains and younger student leaders

Cameron P,for his work as the first Indigenous School Captain – in working to develop pride and visibility of Indigenous culture at the school, and amongst our Indigenous students

Charlotte J, nominated in the 'willpower' category for her commitment to her athletics (long-distance running). 

In addition – Akira Z, who graduated Year 12 with us last year, received an award for outstanding contribution in her workplace.

I'm delighted to let you all know that Cameron was successful in his category and is one of the 6 2023 Macedon Ranges Young People of the year. This is a massive achievement for Cameron, and I know how proud of him our school community already is, and for him to receive recognition of this work more broadly within our community is just amazing.

I’m so proud of all of the students who were nominated.  Watching the pride the students had in themselves, along with family members in attendance (parents, siblings, grandparents) was the real highlight of the evening. Unfortunately Rue and Charlotte were unable to attend the presentation.

August saw the College Production of Freaky Friday take place with 6 shows held over a fortnight including a VIP Gala Night, and to say it was a huge success would be an understatement. From the perfectly timed lighting and sound, to the set changes, to the ushers (who conducted their work with the professionalism of a Hamer Hall Staffer!), to the stellar performances of the cast, and finally, to the absolutely exceptional performances (and singing voices!) of our two lead performers, Keyanah B and Keira W, it was truly sensational.  Well done to all students, parents and staff involved in making the show a success and I’ve no doubt providing life-long memories especially for the cast and crew.

Three GSC students competed at the National Cross Country Championships over the weekend in Canberra. Ellie K, Charlotte J and Isabelle K represented Team Vic and came away with amazing results:

Isabelle K - 61st time of 16.33 for 4km

Ellie K - 61st time of 26.40 for 6km

Charlotte J - 48th time of 16.06 for 4km

I know how dedicated you all are to your training and these are absolutely fabulous results. Well done! 

Our new builders are quietly working away on the re-development of I-Block into a Senior School Centre and it’s really starting to take shape.  As soon as I know when we’ll be moving in, I’ll be sure to advise the school community.

As we near the end of Term 3 please note the dates in the calendar section of this newsletter, particularly the student free day in lieu of Parent/Teacher Interviews on the 14th September, and key dates in Term 4.

Finally, I wanted to share with you all the opportunity I was recently provided, to join an online Principal's Roundtable with local member Mary-Anne Thomas, and State Education Minister, Natalie Hutchins. Through this roundtable, I was able to put forward my questions and concerns to both members about challenges we as a school are facing, including Teacher and ES stress and workload, the impact of ongoing staff shortages, and the work the school is doing to support student wellbeing and learning outcomes in the face of these challenges.

Sarah Rose, Principal