Principal's Message
As we approach Easter, I hope all students and their families have a chance to take a break from study and work, so that they may reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus. On Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday, when Jesus is celebrated as he enters Jerusalem. From then, he is betrayed, crucified, and rises again to offer us new life and hope. We are grateful for the sacrifice and experience wonder and joy at the salvation offered by Christ. In light of this, we wish all families a holy and happy Easter and a safe holiday break.
As always, we have celebrated much success as a College during Term 2. Selected Year 10 students recently won the Rotary Science and Engineering Challenge and will now travel to Newcastle to compete in the finals of that competition. Our Opens Girls’ Football Team won the Diocesan football (soccer) competition and our Opens Girls’ Touch team took out the Preston-Butcher Cup for the sixth successive year. Our College Captain, Ben Devries continues to impress us with his many triathlon successes. We congratulate these students and all of our swimming, diving, athletics and cross country winners and record-breakers.
Students will also have received much feedback from their learning through Term 1, especially in relation to assessment tasks. The holidays are a good time to rest and reflect, so that they may return in Term 2 committed to the perseverance and dedication required for academic development.
On Thursday, we celebrated the work of Mr Rod Buik, a foundation member of the College who has resigned his position as the KLA Leader of HSIE to pursue work in a remote school in Western Australia. We thank Mr Buik for his service to our students. His leadership, classroom teaching, coaching and extra-curricular contributions have been valued by our community.
We are pleased to announce a number of upcoming staff changes for Term 2:
Ms Karina Rudd is the new KLA Leader of HSIE, replacing Mr Buik in his leadership role
Ms Ava Mallise has been appointed as a new HSIE teacher for 2026 and beyond
Mrs Lucille Fitzsimmons has also been appointed in a part-time role to assist with our HSC Society and Culture class
Finally, a number of our families are presently facing hardship, illness or loss. War rages in many parts of our world and this brings much uncertainty to our lives too. We pray that those suffering have the courage to endure their hardship and that our political leaders may have the desire and the capacity to negotiate peace in the world.
Mr Shaun Ellis | Acting Principal