Principal's Update

I wish all our students, staff and their families a safe, happy and holy Christmas. For those families who are leaving Trinity College at the end of this year, thanks for being part of our community and I wish you nothing but good fortune in the future.

What an amazing last two weeks it has been here at Trinity College. There have been a wide variety of different activities that have provided the students with so much enjoyment and ensured there is a positive end to what has been another challenging year.

The Passport 2 Employment program is a six-week course that provides opportunities for students in Year 10 to develop industry specific skills and prepare them for future workplace opportunities.

A small graduation ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 17 to present the students with certificates. The program is one of many ways Trinity College partners with the broader Colac community to provide opportunities for our students and I would like to thank the Trinity College staff along with Denise Madden from the Southwest Local Learning and Employment Network for providing this opportunity to the students.

We held Graduation here onsite with our Year 12 students in an amazing celebration of the year and their time at the College. The event was live streamed to families and I congratulate the students on the spirit in which they wound up their time with us at the College and thank the staff involved in preparing the celebrations.

This was followed by our Year 11 liturgy and award presentations. (On Thursday this week we will conduct presentations for our Year 7-10 students).

Last week was the busiest I have experienced in my time at Trinity. Our Sport Coordinator, Jane Hawker, organised and, with the help of lots of staff, ran two sports days, one for Year 7 and one for Year 8.

Both days were a huge success and made up for some of the sporting opportunities our students have missed throughout the year.

Year 9 PBL classes were also very busy last week as they conducted their market stalls where they worked in teams to sell a variety of items while also raising awareness and money for a charity of their choice. It was fantastic seeing all the ideas the students had come up with and the way they worked so well together.

Last week also saw the long-awaited performance of We Will Rock You. The two shows that took place last Wednesday were fantastic and a huge success. The audiences were thoroughly entertained and the talent on show was incredible.

Without a doubt the performance was worth the two year wait and our congratulations go to all involved for their perseverance, resilience and hard work. The cast and crew were led by April Greaves and Grace Wiedemann along with other dedicated staff and volunteers who all deserve our thanks and congratulations as well as a well-earned rest.

Our 2022 student leaders’ camp also took place in Queenscliff last week.

As always, it was an absolute pleasure to work with these dedicated and passionate students over the two days. Along with getting to know each other better and planning activities for 2022, the students experienced scuba diving and snorkeling in Port Phillip Bay.

The desire of the students to ensure Trinity College is a welcoming place that is accepting of diversity and the plans they have to ensure this is the case next year clearly demonstrate their selfless and caring personalities.

The end of this term will also see a number of staff end their official association with Trinity College. I have elaborated on some of these staff in our College Yearbook however I would like to make mention of them again is this article.

Our current Deputy Principal, Cheryl Pefanis, will be leaving to join her husband, Stephen, in Tasmania where I am sure some lucky educational facility will be keen to employ her once they are aware she is there.

Alda Hubbard is retiring after a very long association with the school as an educator and parent. Cate McCullagh is joining St Thomas Carr College at their Good Samaritan campus in Coragulac where she will be involved in their outdoor education program. Mia Morrow is joining the staff at Timber Top, Geelong Grammar’s Year 9 program, for 2022 and Pat Seal has taken up a 12 month contract with St Michael’s Primary School on Palm Island in Queensland. 

This semester we have also had Colin MacGowan replacing Leesa Sharkey. Leesa will be returning in 2022 so Colin will be finishing up. Colin came out of retirement to help us out and has done a fantastic job getting the senior students through their biology course. Breanna Howard who has been employed as a Laboratory Technician has also decided not to return in 2022. Megan Rodway will also not be here next year as she will be on maternity leave. We will also be farewelling two former students, Eliza Cahill who has been our Sports Trainee and Taylah Hassett who has been working in Admin this year. 

Our Director of Faith and Mission, Anne Hughes, and our Learning Practice Leader/Resource Centre Manager, Luke Featherston will both be on leave for terms 1 and 2 in 2022. 

We wish all our departing staff success and happiness in the journeys that lay ahead of them and thank them all for the contributions they have made to Trinity College. I will introduce all our new staff in the first newsletter next year.

I would like to give a final plug for the Trinity Christmas Raffle and remind our families to purchase a ticket if they haven’t done so already. The raffle will be drawn this Friday, December 3.

Finally, I would like to again thank all our families for the support they have provided us throughout the year. At times, you have had to take on the role of teacher as well as parent, which we know can be a challenge. Going in and out of remote learning and having restrictions and rules change on an almost weekly basis has kept us all on our toes, however, as Principal I have always felt the support of our families. 

I wish all our students, staff and their families a safe, happy and holy Christmas. For those families who are leaving Trinity College at the end of this year, thanks for being part of our community and I wish you nothing but good fortune in the future.

For those returning in 2022 we hope and pray that we can have a full year at school so that all students can experience all the opportunities Trinity College has to offer.