Senior Years
Year 12 Valedictory Service
Tuesday 1 December saw us finally able to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2020 at the Valedictory Service. While it was extremely disappointing to not have families with us to celebrate, the service was a fantastic opportunity to join in worship together one last time, reflect on 2020, celebrate our award winners and give students a unique gift from the College. This year, many of us would have said this more than once I am sure, I am grateful for technology, enabling us to livestream the event to families to ensure they were still with us to celebrate this important rite of passage.
I would like to thank Heather Vogt for sourcing the new gifts that were given to the students this year. The mementos, individually handmade from glass, no two the same, were thoughtfully selected to reflect that each student is uniquely created in God’s image, their unique gifts and abilities have been shared with the Endeavour community to enrich and serve. I would also like to thank the members of the Valedictory Service Planning Team for persisting through the preparation for not one but three Valedictory Services. Their relentless dedication to ensuring that our students were able to celebrate their secondary school graduation is greatly appreciated.
My congratulations to all those students who were awarded prizes at the Valedictory Service. Their dedication to not only academic achievement and application but also in service and commitment to our community and beyond is to be commended.
In a year that had the potential to disrupt not only the extra and co-curricular programs on offer at the College but also the academic program, our Year 12 students have met the year head on and made the most of every opportunity offered to them. They not only achieved highly but also bonded closer together and helped to grow College spirit within their Villages. My special thanks to the student leaders who worked hard to bring each of their specialist areas to light in the College and particularly to the Village Leaders who continue to build the strong sense of community that exists in our school.
My final thanks go to the 2020 Student Executive who have worked tirelessly to ensure that initiatives and events were still able to happen this year. I appreciate the way in which College Captains, Paul and Amelia, have served and represented our College within the community and beyond and the way the Student Action Team Captains have promoted selfless giving through various fundraisers and other donation activities. These types of activities continue to build empathy in our student body for those in our wider community and is a reputation that our community should be proud of.
Blessings to all Year 12s and their families as they enter a time of rest over Christmas and all the best to our Year 12s as they transition to life beyond Endeavour College. I look forward to hearing about what is next for each of them.
Daniel Wooldridge
Year 12 Year Level Leader
Year 11 Reflections
As the year began to draw to a close for our Year 11 students, one last disruption saw the Year 10 and 11 exams being cancelled. As many students breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed an extra week break, we reflect on a year that was quite unique and will be one each of us remember. My focus for remembering this year is the amazing achievements we as a Year 11 cohort have still managed to achieve. A good reminder of this was the number of Excellence in Achievement and Application awards which I was privileged enough to present to a large number of students at the Senior Years Final Service, along with a number of other awards, including the Endeavour Way awards.
Latisha Barr was presented with the Academic Achievement award for Stage 2 Outdoor Education, which she studied along side a number of other Year 11 and 12 students this year. Latisha demonstrated hard work and dedication in all aspects of the practical and written components of the course. Another layer to this achievement is that 2020 was the first year Endeavour College has offered Stage 2 Outdoor Education. This year’s students jumped straight in and got their feet wet with two Kayaking expeditions to Ral Ral Creek and Chowilla, one of which was a self-reliant camp where students were responsible for all of the planning, navigation, equipment and travel for the three days. A big congratulations to Latisha and all of the Year 11s and 12s involved with Outdoor Education in 2020.
As students enjoy a well-deserved rest over the Christmas break, I encourage them to reflect on the year that was and the success and achievements they experienced. I would also like them to think about how our focus for this year has been on emerging leaders and how this year has shaped them further into the leaders they are within their communities. I wish everyone a safe and relaxing Christmas break.
Jake Otto-Williams
Year 11 Year Level Leader
Year 10 Reflections
What a great end to a crazy year. The Year 10 students have finished this term in a positive and energetic manner. While Term 4 was disrupted and there was a lot of uncertainty, I have appreciated the students’ resilience and willingness to be flexible as they finished the year.
The Senior Years Final Service was a great indicator as to how well the students have performed this year. There were many who received Excellence in Academic Achievement and/or Application awards. This is reward for a dedicated and consistent approach to their studies.
As the students look at their Semester 2 reports, I encourage them to view this in conjunction with the plans they made at the Course Counselling sessions. This is a good time to review decisions and look at pathways to move forward. Reflecting on the past year, identifying what went well throughout the year and considering aspects that were not as successful is a valuable exercise in planning for 2021 and beyond.
I wish all students a restful and enjoyable holiday and look forward to seeing them next year.
Darren Willsmore
Year 10 Year Level Leader