From the Principal
Celebrating Foundation Day
Our school community came together today for our annual Foundation Day Service.
Foundation Day celebrates the foundation or beginning of Moama Anglican Grammar, and all that has been achieved in the short history of our great school.
This time last year, in my first year as Principal, I had the honour of addressing our school community at my first Foundation Day Service. My address reflected upon Moama Anglican Grammar’s story – an inspiring journey which began in 2004 and was realised in 2005 through the vision of the Murray Shire Council, to create a Secondary School in Moama.
Today we celebrated and paid our respect to the courage, vision, and determination of the many volunteers and community members who embraced the Murray Shire Council's vision, and helped create the school and thriving learning community that we are so fortunate to be a part of today.
As we celebrate our school’s foundation and reflect with gratitude for all that has been done and achieved by so many people, to grow and develop our school to where we are today, it is exciting to also celebrate and shine a light on a number of new and significant developments that position our school strongly for the future.
As announced to our school community at the start of the year, when outlining our 2024 and Beyond Strategic Priorities, we are proud to continue the bold vision and courageous legacy of the founders of our school.
There is great anticipation within our community as we embark on the staged development of our second campus – a ‘hands on’ flexible learning facility, or in simple terms, a school camp, at Gunbower Estate.
We are pleased to confirm that student and staff visits to Gunbower Estate will commence this term, and much progress has been made at the site since the start of the year.
Examples include, preparing the site for safe student and staff access, planning and preparing for restoration of the historic homestead, developing relationships within the Gunbower community, and the development of a concept design for a two-story High Ropes Course and a future Flying Fox. Planning for proposed student accommodation options is about to commence.
Another significant and exciting development announced at the start of the year is the commencement of a planning process to explore the design of a Multi-Purpose Stadium at our Kirchhofer Street site.
The development of an indoor Multi-Purpose Stadium is the highest priority for the next stage of our school’s Master Plan. This will greatly enhance student and staff experience by expanding choice and opportunity through access to specialist Physical Education, Sport, Music, and Performing Arts facilities.
This future development will also enable Moama Anglican Grammar to establish an all-weather indoor facility which can accommodate multiple learning activities at the same time, in addition to ensuring that we have a space which can comfortably house our school community for assemblies and school events.
Over the past nine months, we have engaged the voice and ideas of our staff in the initial design stage to ensure that the design of our Stadium is fit for purpose and positions our school strongly for the future.
The Board and our School Executive Team are committed to keeping our community updated as we progress this most exciting development. We very much look forward to sharing further progress updates, including concept design drawings in the coming months.
Progressively developing Gunbower Estate, and the exploration of a Multi-Purpose Stadium design are examples of our school continuing to grow and develop. Our collective responsibility as stewards of our schools ‘unwritten future’ is to build upon the traditions and foundations of our great school, as many others have done before us.
We have an ambitious vision for 2024 and Beyond, with many other examples of expanded choice and opportunities for students and staff on the horizon.
As Principal, I am unwaveringly committed to working together with our students, staff, families, our Board, and community partners to write the next chapters of our school’s history.
Thank you to all participants, special guests and attendees who contributed to the success of today’s service.
Mr Scott Downward
Principal