Principal's Update

Exciting finish to our school year

Dear families,

It was an exciting time for our VCE students on Monday with results coming out at 7am.

I am pleased to announce our College Dux for 2022 is Yingru Qu with an ATAR of 96.20.

This is an incredible achievement given Yingru has been in Australia for less than two years and is working hard to improve his English skills. He is a very driven young man.

He actually started with us in Year 10, but was fast-tracked into Year 11 and VCE studies and has now achieved three study scores in the 40's in maths and science and an ATAR that will open doors at any University in the country.

Yingru should be extremely proud and I think it is a testament to the dedicated staff who have helped him in his time at Trinity.

College Captain Sophie Darroch had an ATAR of 93.88. Sophie is a gifted writer and her English study score of 48 (out of a possible 50) was near perfect and places her in the top few in the state.

Sophie said this week she felt the secret to her success was studying subjects she enjoyed.

Tilly Kerr scored 90.55 and said she was pleasantly surprised when she got her results. She scored a 46 in Visual Communication Design and plans to study psychology at university.

Several students achieved ATARs over 80. It was pleasing to note we had 53.19% of our VCE students achieve an ATAR of 70 or above, compared with 40% in 2021.

Almost every VCE student achieved a result that will get them into their chosen university course and we will continue to support any student wanting to find an alternative path to their area of interest.

We also celebrate the 12 study scores of 40 or above: Hugh Daffy - Further Mathematics; Sophie Darroch - English & Media; Rose Gittings - Literature; Ebony Higgins - Business Management; Matilda Kerr - Visual  Communication Design; Yingru Qu - Specialist Mathematics & Mathematical Methods (Physics last year); Eliza Walters - Business Management & Health and Human Development; Stella Xu - Further Mathematics; Mike Yang - Further Mathematics.

Year 7-11 Presentations

It was fantastic seeing so many parents and carers at our Year 7-10 Presentation Assembly. The event showcased the outstanding efforts of many students throughout the year and I would like to again congratulate all the students who received awards and all those who did their best each and every day.

The school year for students finished up on a very positive note last Friday with each year level taking part in a special activity to celebrate the end of the year. Our Year 7 students enjoyed a day at Adventure Park, the Year 8 students went to Bounce and Torquay, Year 9 headed to Peterborough and Year 10 went indoor rock climbing in Geelong. All students represented their college with distinction and enjoyed the day. A special thank you goes to our year level coordinators for all their work organising the activities and also to all the staff who accompanied the students.

The school office will remain open until Monday, December 19 until 12pm for any families who need to come in, and all teaching staff will be onsite until Tuesday, December 13 taking part in first aid courses and preparing for next year.

Palm Island Immersion

The staff and students who attended the Palm Island Immersion for their schoolies experience returned last week from what was a very successful trip. Our Deputy Principal Rachel McGennisken reported that it was the best student trip she had ever been on in her 20+ years in education.

The students who attended are to be commended for the way they embraced every opportunity presented to them; they were a huge hit with the students at St Michael’s Catholic Primary School, so much so that the principal would love to have us back next year. 

Staffing Changes

There will be a number of staffing changes taking place between now and the beginning of the 2023 school year. Kirsty Almond, Isabelle Philpott and Cleo Bailey have all accepted teaching positions in other schools.

Trish Barclay, Sarah Green, Adele McKee and Jarmin Paddick will be on leave for all of 2023. Canteen Manager Jo Carmichael will be on leave for Term 1.

Stuart Rickard has completed his education degree this year and has been appointed to a teaching role at another school for next year and Mitchell Withers, who has also worked as a Learning Support Officer, is leaving to devote more time to his film making business. Finally, Josh Garner and Joe O’Farrell both finish up their respective roles at the end of this year and will be undertaking further study in 2023.

On behalf of the entire Trinity College community, I would like to thank these staff members for their contribution to our school and wish them well for the future. Pat Seal will be returning from his year teaching on Palm Island and will again be our Year 11 Coordinator next year while Jade Elborough will replace Jarmin Paddick as Year 7 Coordinator. We have also managed to appoint some fantastic staff to join us next year and I will introduce each one of these in the first newsletter next year.

Last week we welcomed our 2023 Year 7 students for their orientation day. It was great to see all the smiling faces eager to enjoy a day at their secondary school. We also understand that the transition from primary to secondary school can be daunting for some students, so we have numerous supports in place to ensure all students quickly feel welcome and comfortable.

Thank You

As this is our final newsletter for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our families for their ongoing support in what has been another challenging year.

I wish each and every one of you a safe, happy and holy Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing all the students back here on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.