Principal's Report

As I write this, I’m looking out of my office window and marvelling at how fortunate we are to live in this corner of the world.  The wind is up and about, but there’s only a few clouds in the sky.  The weather is warm enough to be standing outside comfortably for all of lunch and there’s green as far as the eye can see.  I know there’s rain and cooler conditions coming tomorrow, but I take for granted how lucky we are to have plentiful water supplies and temperate weather conditions throughout the year.  Compare this to the drought that will not abate north of us.  Huge swaths of land are dust bowls, growing nothing and sucking the energy and positivity from life.  And of course there’s two super hurricanes bearing down on the coast lines of the Philippines and USA at the moment where millions of people’s lives are about to be changed, possibly forever.  The geography of Warrnambool makes this a pretty special place to work, learn and teach in.

On Monday I went to a forum arranged by the Department to bring together schools, training providers, industry and local agencies.  Amongst other things we were discussing the importance of providing our young people with meaningful and relevant ways of accessing local career opportunities in the South West.  There is much more to be done to draw together education and industry in and around Warrnambool, but I was enthused to hear and meet people within our community who want to make these connections happen with Warrnambool College.  Our students already have many direct links with businesses and organisations in Warrnambool and plans are afoot to embed these links within the classroom in a more structured fashion.  The community of Warrnambool makes this an exciting place to work, learn and teach in.

Last Friday we celebrated the ‘Tall Poppies’ awards night at the school.  As I listened to the achievements of the 12 new inductees to Tall Poppies, I marvelled at the fact that they once walked the same corridors as me and all other students of Warrnambool College.  Their success in careers, voluntary contributions to society and personal development of others was incredible to hear and reflect upon.  And significantly their stories of achievement were wide and varied, from those that had successfully completed PhDs, to award winning journalism, to unparalleled contributions to the fields of medicine, speech pathology and health and safety.  And that’s not even the half of it.  We have incredible students at our school, now and those that are alumni that come back to be recognised and offer so much back.  The spirit and history of Warrnambool College makes this an inspiring place to work, learn and teach in.

Enjoy your last week of term – I hope you have a restful and safe break during the upcoming school holidays.

Kind Regards,

Dave Clift

Principal