Principal's Update

Dear families,

Welcome to Term 3. I hope your children enjoyed their holidays and have returned to school re-energized for another busy term.

On Monday this week our staff spent the day taking part in three workshops. The first part of the day had a focus on our Catholic identity. We explored what it means to be a Catholic school in an increasingly secular society and how we could ensure our students had a clear understanding of what it means to be a student in a Catholic school.

The focus was on learning more about the work of two significant people in the Trinity College story, Edmund Rice and Dr Sr Mary Glowrey and looking at the legacy both people have left and the work that continues today in their name.

Our aim is to make sure our students learn about Edmund and Mary along with Catherine McAuley, founder of the Mercy Sisters, so they can be inspired by their stories and follow their example to further develop their social conscience.

We then spent time looking at the strategic direction of the school. We are committed to ensuring Trinity continues to improve everything we do so that we can be the best possible school for all the students enrolled.

Staff explored areas we can improve and how that improvement can be achieved. We aim to spend time with our students to ensure their voice is included in this planning and also provide an opportunity for our families to have their say.

The final session of the day was spent setting NCCD learning goals for our students and generally getting a better understanding of the students in our classes. With a significant number of classes changing in Semester Two, this time provided a fantastic opportunity for teachers to learn more about students that they are teaching for the first time.

I understand that student free days can cause disruption at home and want to thank our families for their support. Providing time for staff to work together on creating a better school for our students is essential and will benefit all students as we move forward.

There have been some staff changes that have come into effect this term. We received news last term that Mrs Anne Hughes, Director of Faith and Mission and Religious Education Learning Area Leader, would not be returning to Trinity College.

Anne and her husband have moved to the NSW south coast and while her initial plans were to return to Trinity at the beginning of Term 3, these plans have now changed.

I would like to thank Anne for the significant impact she had on Trinity College and her genuine care for all the students. We wish Anne and her husband, Stephen, success and happiness with the next stage of their journey.

Mr Daniel Rodway will continue as Acting Director of Faith and Mission and Mr James Fitzpatrick will continue as Acting Religious Education Learning Area Leader. This change also means that Mrs Shani Gill will continue as Acting English Learning Area Leader. I would like to thank all these staff members for agreeing to continue to lead these important areas of the school.

Mr Luke Featherstone has returned from leave and will resume as our Resource Centre Manager and Learning Practice Leader. As we welcome Luke back, I would like to thank Mrs Jennifer Colbron for taking on those leadership roles in Luke’s absence. 

Ms Libby Ryan has also returned from leave and resumes her role as Director of Learning and I thank Mrs Kate Geary for taking on this role while Libby was away. 

Trinity also welcomes back Mrs Melissa Noonan from parental leave and Mrs Vicki Consedine form Long Service Leave.

Ms Kate Nolan will be leaving Trinity College at the end of this week to take up a teaching position at Clonard College in Geelong. Kate leaves Trinity College after two and a half years where she has worked predominantly in the Religious Education and Humanities areas. Kate has also been our Social Justice Coordinator this year.

Kate has made a valuable contribution to our school in the relatively short time she has been here. The students will definitely miss her and we wish her every success with the next stage of her teaching career.

We have employed a graduate teacher, Mr Sam Wolfenden, to replace Kate. Sam has spent the first two weeks of this term getting to know the students and the curriculum and will be a great asset to our school.

University Offer

Trinity College has been offered an exciting opportunity from the Australian Catholic University in Ballarat. Up to 2 Year 11 students can apply to be part of the university's SUIT (Step Up Into Teaching) program.

This program involves the student/s attending one week of classes in the September school holidays and another week in the January school holidays. On successful completion of the course automatic entry to a degree in education is offered once the student/s have completed Year 12.

Our Year 11 Coordinator, Mrs Jade Elborough, will be seeking expressions of interest from current Year 11 students who would like to pursue a career in education and have the work ethic required to complete university standard work. More details about this course will be provided once we have received expressions of interest from students.

Last week we had two bikes stolen from our bike shed during the night. The bike shed was locked, however the wire was cut and, unfortunately, the bikes were not locked inside the shed. We did manage to capture security footage of the culprit and have handed this to the Colac Police.

Requests had been made via our morning student messages for bikes not to be left over night in the bike shed and I would like to take this opportunity to share this message with our families. If it is essential that a bike has to be left overnight for some reason, please ask your child to discuss this with a member of staff so we can make sure the bike is kept in a more secure area.

There has been lots of media coverage concerning mask wearing in schools. While no government mandate relating to mask wearing has been made, a joint letter has been written by Victorian government, independent and catholic school departments that is strongly recommending mask wearing for all staff and students eight years and older while indoors.

Our aim here at Trinity is always to provide the safest place possible for our staff and students so we fully support this recommendation. Masks are available at student reception. There will be no consequences in place for students who choose not to wear a mask and masks continue to only be mandated while on public transport or if someone in the household is a positive COVID case. 

I hope your child has a positive and rewarding Term 3 and, as always, please don’t hesitate to make contact with the school if we can help in any way.

Kind Regards

Paul Clohesy, Principal