A Note from Craig

Dear Friends’ Community Members,

As I wrote in Echoes, it gives me great pleasure to provide the School community with my thoughts and comments on the year past and the activities of the Board of Governors. The 2022 school year was again impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Tasmania opening its borders late last year and the subsequent rise in cases coinciding with the start of the school year and through term’s one and two. The Board is very grateful to staff, students and all involved in getting through this difficult time and continuing to operate on campus and provide a meaningful learning experience for our students.

The Board of Governors has continued to focus on the areas of Board Strategic Responsibility that guide the ongoing operations of the School and, in particular, have concentrated on the Strategic Responsibilities concerning Teaching and Learning, along with the physical structure of the School evolving from the Master Plan previously prepared.

We continue to strive to provide the best education environment we can for our students and I am very pleased that the Board, after a long period of consideration and reflection, supported the recommendation of a School Working Group to reorganise the secondary year groupings to achieve this aim. Work continues on how this will look in practice, with an expected commencement hoped for in the 2024 school year.

In relation to the built environment, it was very exciting to attend the opening of the new Revell Sports Centre earlier in the year and to enjoy a basketball game between students of the School. We are confident this facility will be a game changer for our physical education program.

As I write this, we can all witness the transformation of the WN Oats Centre. We are confident this will also be a significant game changer for our learning environment and provide new and modern teaching spaces for our students. With an expected completion date later this year it will be fully operational for the 2023 school year.

The Board continues its work in searching for our next Principal after Nelson File announced he will be retiring at the end of 2023. We will continue to update the School community as we progress through this process.

I am pleased to act as Presiding Member for the School and would like to thank all Members of the Board for their oversight and governance of the School. They give up their time voluntarily for the School and it is much appreciated.

Warm regards,

Craig Stephens