Message from the Principal

Welcome Back to new year

It was a great delight for the staff and I to greet the students back to school last week. The energy and enthusiasm of students on each campus was impressive to observe. Classes, both young and old, made an encouraging start. An underlying strength of our school is the positivity of relationships and it was heart-warming to notice the connections between students and with staff in the first few days.

I offer a special welcome to new students/families and to the those who have freshly commenced boarding. Adjusting to a new school can be challenging but I trust that your children will quickly feel at home in our vibrant community and will thrive, both inside and outside the classroom. New students offer something fresh and unique and so we are excited about their arrival. I am thrilled with the quality of student leadership across the school, both in Primary and Secondary and look forward to its impact, with great anticipation. The Leadership Ceremony today was testament to that.

2020 challenges

Every year brings fresh challenges. For Calrossy they include enduring this prolonged drought and the impact it has on most in our region. We are in a building stage in preparation for 2021. We are developing and upgrading our Boarding facilities. Our aim is to continue to provide relevant and outstanding education to our students, seeking to make a difference in quality education, growing great individuals and equipping them for their future.

HSC Summary

The 2019 Calrossy HSC results were very pleasing. Whilst Top Band reporting never tells the full story, our students achieved 52 commendations across 18 different subjects. Two students achieved all-rounder recognition, achieving top bands in all 10 units. Kate Stacey and Megan Seis actually achieved Band 6 (or equivalent) in 6 subjects. Calrossy achieved the highest number of top bands in the New England/North West region and the top ATAR (Kate Stacey 99.65) though our overall rank was marginally behind 2018, ranking at 151st in the State. (Proportional results placed us a little behind PLC in Armidale, who have a much smaller cohort of candidates, though given the number of Year 12's selecting to not receive an ATAR and undertaking vocational courses, our results were very impressive.)

We were most delighted that Safina Ireland topped the state in Primary Industries, Megan Seis was second in Agriculture and PI, both by 1 mark and Tessa Mitchell achieved a second in subject. Such top ten subject rankings are rare in any school yet Calrossy has achieved 13 such rankings in the last four years, including two First in NSW awards.

Beyond the individual results, most pleasing were the mean scores in many courses, significantly above state average. Student improvement ratings, the award of scholarships and first preference university acceptances and high 90s and 80s ATAR have been reported back. Students achieving placements in Medicine, Law, Agriculture Science and Engineering, amongst many other diverse options were pleasing to hear about.

I congratulate the staff of Calrossy and Class of 2019 for the success of this cohort, maintaining our reputation for strong academic achievement. Results over the last five years reinforce our place as the top academic school in the region.

New Staff

I am delighted to welcome the following new staff to Calrossy:

Mrs Kate Stone - as Head of Secondary Maths

Mr Matthew Frazer - to the Secondary Maths faculty

Miss Erika Sorby – as teacher of Secondary History and Art

Miss Isabella Clift – Kindergarten

Mrs Sarah Chambers – Year 6

Mr Ben Deshon – Farmhand, Tangara

Mrs Alison Bath – Learning Support (Secondary Girls)