Principal's Update

I am pleased to report we’ve had a very positive Term 3 at the College, with many great student achievements and some great College outcomes to celebrate. 

We began the Term with a focus on an area of work we call ‘climate’ – ensuring we have the pre-conditions in place to a high standard that enable all our students to learn at high levels. Students responded incredibly well, and we’ve supported many students to ensure that they have their books and stationery in good order, if this is something that may have slipped as the year has gone on.  

Our NAPLAN results were a highlight this Term, as I shared with parents at the time. Last year we achieved our highest ever results for the College in several key areas, and this year we exceeded last year’s effort. We also sit well above similar schools, when compared across the state. A huge acknowledgement and congratulations to our Year 9 cohort (who completed NAPLAN this year) and our staff who have worked passionately to support our students. 

Our other key performance indicator, the statewide ‘Student Attitudes to School’ survey, saw results released this week. We have grown in 95% of survey factors, indicating our students are increasingly positive about coming to school, about their relationships with peers and staff, and their sense of connectedness to our College. It’s an area our staff have focused on, particularly since the negative impact of the pandemic, and it is incredibly pleasing to see this move further forward. As always, there are some pockets of things to explore and address, whether it be for particular students in certain year levels, or a particular area of improvement, our next steps are to engage our students in focus groups to understand their school experiences more deeply and to continue to respond and grow to ensure our College continues to be an exceptional place to be and learn. 

In other news, course selections are well underway for 2024 subjects, we’ve undertaken some significant landscaping to further improve our campus for our students, we’ve had students represent the College in a range of sports and curriculum events such as the Model United National Assembly, and much more. Transition Day with our Grade 6’s was a great success, and we can’t wait to welcome our incoming students as new Year 7’s next year. 

The teacher shortage has been an ongoing issue in education for the last 12-24 months but has gained particular media attention in the last few weeks. We have been very fortunate to have weathered this shortage reasonably well, partly due to careful, strategic and proactive recruitment, and partly due to our strong culture of supporting, valuing and developing our staff. We have incredibly high results in the statewide ‘Staff Culture’ survey, and I continue to be grateful to our staff for the way we work together, support each other, and challenge each other to be the best we can be. We are about to commence recruitment for a handful of new teachers for 2024 due to a couple of retirements and our ongoing growth -if as a parent or community member you know any teachers who are looking for a great place to work, please encourage them to get in touch. 

Thanks again for your support as always. 

Adam Hogan

College Principal