Principal's Update

Social Justice on the Agenda

Dear families, 

Our commitment to social justice as a key part of our Catholic identity has been on display over the last couple of weeks.

We had eight students join staff members Kate Nolan and Gayle Johnson for a winter sleep out to raise awareness of homelessness in our community. The students slept on cardboard boxes in order to experience a night of hardship, which in turn increases their empathy for those sleeping rough every night.

College Captain, Ben Black, also presented a cheque for $1,000 to the current principal of Mt St Patrick College in Murwillumbah, Mr Paul Reidy, who visited our school last week.

Mr Reidy spoke about the large number of families who are still trying to recover from the damage caused to their homes by the flood, many of whom are still not back in their homes. They were very appreciative of the donation and stated that it would definitely be put to good use in their community.

Our Project-Based Learning Leader, Karen Hart, arranged for Brigidene Sister and Queens Birthday Honour recipient Sr Brigid Arthur to present to all the Year 9 students this week. 

The next PBL project is based on social justice and there is no better speaker to launch this theme than Sr Brigid who spends her life working to support refugees.

Sr Brigid is the co-founder of Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project and shared the heartbreaking stories of a number of asylum seekers she has met and helped over the years. Our Parish Priest, Fr. Michael, who supports so many refugees here in Colac also joined us for the presentation.

On behalf of the Trinity College community, I want to officially welcome Mrs Renee Morgan to our teaching staff. Renee began at the College this week replacing Mark Tucker, who has moved with his family to the Sunshine Coast.

We had the opportunity last week to thank Mark for the contribution he has made to Trinity College over the last six years as both a Learning Support Officer and teacher. 

In other staffing news Kate Nolan has taken up a teaching position at Clonard College in Geelong and will begin there at the beginning of Term 3. Kate has been a very valued member of our teaching staff and will be missed by both students and staff. We wish Kate success with her new role.

We have already begun the process of trying to find a teacher to replace Kate and will hopefully be in a position to welcome them at the beginning of next term.

On Tuesday this week I attended the Instrumental Music Evening. Music and the performing arts in general add so much to the culture of a school and it was such a pleasure to see so many students put their talents on display, many of whom have only recently started learning their instruments.

Our Trinity Difference model promotes courageous and resilient learners and both of these qualities were on display in abundance.

I would like to congratulate all the students who took part and thank all the families who support their children to learn an instrument and for their attendance on the evening. I would also like to acknowledge the hours of hard work dedicated by our music tutors as well as Trinity staff members Kelly Kerr, Grace Wiedemann and April Greaves.

Year 10 and 11 examinations are currently taking place and I encourage the students to continue to apply their best efforts to these tasks. All anyone can ask of any student is to do their best and remember that they are not defined by any grade they receive, but the effort they put in.

Next week is our final week of term and I would like to thank all those students who have had a positive impact on their school during term 2. So many students have represented Trinity College in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities and events including sport, music, public speaking and robotics.

In fact our robotics team are through to the state finals following their winning performances in Geelong last week.

We also have nine students through to the finals of the Sayembara Lisan Indonesian Speaking Competition, which is outstanding.

The students who turn up each day, work hard and show respect to their peers, their teachers and the facilities are equally congratulated and thanked.

I would like to wish all our Year 10 students all the best for their work experience week next week and thank their families for helping organise the week for them. 

Finally, I wish all our students and their families a safe and happy term two holiday.

Kind Regards

Paul Clohesy, Principal