Principal's Update

Dear families, 

Over the last few days we have been reminded how precious life is and how quickly lives can change. We are currently keeping 2021 graduate, Hamish Stinchcombe and his family and friends in our thoughts and prayers following Hamish’s involvement in a serious car accident. Hamish has suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident and has a long road to recovery ahead of him. Last weekend also saw the tragic accident that impacted on the Hamilton community where four people were killed as a result of a car accident, one of those young people attended Monivae College. As we pray for the victims, families and friends of these tragedies, we also pray for the safety of all current Trinity College students and their families. 

Last week we celebrated Catholic Education Week and as part of the celebrations our Year 12 College Captains and Vice Captains attended Mass at St Mary’s with students and staff from St Mary’s Primary School, Sacred Heart Primary School and St Brendan’s Primary School. Celebrating the Eucharist as a whole Colac Catholic School community was a fitting way to focus on the positive impact Catholic education has on so many students and their families. 

The process of interviewing students and their families who have applied to attend Trinity College in 2024 began this week. It is wonderful to be able to spend time with our future Year 7 students and their parent/s and carer/s to learn more about them, their interests outside of school and their learning journey so far. We are looking at having six Year 7 classes transitioning to Trinity in 2024. 

As part of the lead up to National Reconciliation Week, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Coordinator, Mrs Anne McCrickard, organized a Smoking Ceremony & Welcome to Country for the whole school. Ebony Hickey from Colac Aboriginal Gathering Place led the ceremony where she explained the significance and importance of land, culture and respect, and read a story about Lake Elizabeth and the enduring strength of Aboriginal women. Ebony generously donated a copy of this story book she authored with Forrest Primary School students. The book is titled Yal Yarra’s Gadubanud and is dedicated to the Yal Yarra’s, The Wild Gadubanud Women of the Otways. The ceremony and story were both very moving and we thank Ebony for her time and for sharing her story with us. 

I would like to congratulate the music staff and students for the outstanding performances that made up the Semester 1 Music Evening on Wednesday night. The music program at Trinity College is constantly expanding and the performances of the students continue to get better and better all the time. Thanks also to all our families for attending and supporting the students in their musical journey. The evening was a great success and is testament to the hard work and hours of practice put in by the students and staff.