From the Principal

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 2. We are still searching for some elusive rain for our district but it seems we will have to wait a little longer. The last day of term was a fantastic celebration of the term 1 achievements with acknowledgement of high attendance, high achievement and an Easter egg hunt and activities to bring in the Easter festive season. The first week of this term is a little messy with a shortened week due to Anzac Day and our third day of training for the Berry Street Education model. The Berry Street model of education is a positive education model that sees teachers focusing on the strengths of students to build a positive relationship and foster a feeling of community to enhance the ability of each student to learn. It may sound a little “rainbows and unicorns” but the success of the program across many years speaks for itself. It aligns with our strategic plan to increase student voice, build stronger relationships with our students, and create more personalised learning opportunities for all.

ANZAC Service

The Anzac Day ceremony held on Tuesday was a fantastic showcase with a multitude of students leading the presentation with poems, speeches, wreath presentations and musical items. We continue to strive to hand over the running of these events to our amazing students and the feedback from visitors including the RSL and Legacy guests suggests it was as impressive from their viewpoint as it was from ours. We also welcomed the Channel 9 A Current Affair Team to the ceremony as they are presenting a showpiece on Hamilton on Anzac Day regarding the large number of wartime participants the area has produced. It was on Tuesday that I learned Hamilton has had the highest number of participants per capita of any town in Australia. The segment aired on Thursday 25th April, and here is a link for those wishing to view http://9Soci.al/l8a030ox1oq

In Our Thoughts

With our thoughts on the tragedy that is war and thinking about the extreme loss of life that Australia has endured in conflict it was also very saddening to hear of the needless deaths in Sri Lanka with Christian places of worship and hotels being bombed. Having a staff member from Sri Lanka as well as staff from India, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, England and Wales we are more acutely aware of our world and how we are all just people who need to live harmoniously. Having just reflected on the terrorism in Christchurch it was heart wrenching to see more members of our community again grieving so soon. We are now and will continue to support our community as needed and students and teachers have been keen to support each other during this grieving period.

Around the School

On a much lighter note, next week we have School Council and are still hoping to attract more members. If you would like to come along for a taste please contact the office for location and meeting time with the next meeting due next Monday evening, 29th April. We are already filling up the term 2 calendar with Parent Teacher interviews over the next two weeks ( see Compass for details), the cross country, Bogong and year 11 Camp, and Naplan testing all prior to the end of week 4.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school at any time to access the teachers, administration staff or to find out how you can become involved in the many activities being run this term. We love to hear your feedback as we strive to ensure the students and parents/guardians have a clear voice to promote continual change and improvement for our school.