Across the Principal's Desk

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of 2021. It has been an incredibly challenging year with lockdowns and Remote Learning impacting us all. We continued to achieve amazing things throughout this year despite the adversity we faced during this very unique time in all of our lives. Well done to everyone!

Our students were brilliant! They remained connected to our school with the assistance of the very positive relationships we actively foster. Remote Learning was certainly challenging and suited some better than others – but so many of our students engaged despite the difficulties and maintained high expectations for themselves. They also returned to school after bouts of Remote Learning with smiles on their faces and treated each other respectfully – maybe even with a renewed appreciation for the importance of school in their lives. Our students also continued to achieve excellence and so many of them demonstrated incredible resilience.

I would like to acknowledge and thank our parents, guardians and community members. We really appreciated the way in which people at home and in our local area showed understanding and empathy for the challenges faced by students and teachers. We also understand that it was tough on the home front, as well. The communication with our school along the way was very positive – we were all working towards the one cause of providing the support that our young people needed  to navigate their way through uncertain and difficult times.

Our staff were amazing! They worked hard to maintain the strong relationships we have in our school – in and out of periods of Remote Learning. These relationships are the basis for what makes our school work. Whilst the wellbeing of our students was foremost in our minds, we remained committed to the teaching and learning processes – even though it needed to look a little different. Our staff worked really hard to engage our students and went over and above to make that happen. They showed how flexible, adaptable, compassionate and caring they are in providing support for our students and meeting their needs.

We have achieved so much this year and we have finished strongly by acknowledging the successes of our students through presentation ceremonies. They had to look a little different again this year but still had the elements of formality and celebration. We also continued to provide opportunities for our students to access learning through loads of fun on camps. I was able to visit a couple of these and managed to get on horse back in the High Country and on a surfboard on the South Coast. Our students were fantastic and on all of the camps they were acknowledged by external camp organisers as terrific students. A recent highlight was our Year 12 Graduation. It was a pleasure to see our students dressed up and getting ready for the world beyond school. They were very complimentary of our school and staff in their speeches. It was wonderful to have parents onsite to share the experience in celebrating what they have achieved under very difficult circumstances, as well as wishing them well as they embark on the next chapter in their lives. 

I wish everyone a safe and relaxing break. We look forward to a more settled year in 2022.