From the Principal

The weather has certainly changed as we move towards summer and as such there will be a regular reminder for students to be wearing their hats, summer uniform and protective sunscreen for those with extra sensitive skin.

Sinead Lambert & Peter Rafferty being Sunsmart in an impromptu game on the hockey pitch in PE

Halloween and Cancer Council Fundraiser

The Halloween dress up day and associated fundraiser was a huge success with a larger proportion of both students and staff getting involved in the dress up and festivities. The mood during the day despite some scary costumes was very positive throughout the day.

2019 Year 7 Students

The Year 7 2019 information nights for students and parents who will be part of the 2019 Year 7 student cohort has been a huge success and was delivered over 3 nights ( two this week and one next) to ensure small group with staff support could be offered. Students got to spend time in a small group completing some activities and sharing their wonderings for the upcoming transition. Parents were able to complete all necessary paperwork, speak to staff and find out about computers, uniforms, compass sharing of information and other general administrative areas. Thanks must go to Mrs Jill Robinson, Mrs Bernie Cook and Mrs Sam Adams for their dedication to developing this mode of communication and support for our new students and parents.

Year 12 Celebration Day and exams

The end of year Celebration was a wonderful event for students and their parents to be a part of and was incredibly well organised and orchestrated by Ms. Rachel Rose and Ms. Lorraine Liston. The students spoke incredibly well, thanked their peers, staff and parents for ongoing support and did themselves very proud. They have had their first exam at the time of writing and all reports thus far have been favourable that they have felt well prepared. The remainder is now up to each one of them and we wish them every success for the rapidly changing future ahead and the range of jobs they will undertake.

Artwork on show

It was great to see our student artwork recently displayed in Hamilton and some of the work advertised for sale was sold which was a great accolade for the students and shows the quality of the instruction and opportunity on offer in our school. Thanks to Mr Constantine for his work and congratulations to all students involved.

Yiyili student visit

The HDSC through both Mr. Peter Ogilby and Gilly have had a long association with indigenous communities and none more so than Yiyili which is located in Western Australia about 4 hours drive from the Fitzroy river. We have this week hosted students, staff and community members from the school and town and they have expressed thanks to their hosts, the school and the town for the welcome and experiences thus far. Thank you also to the buddies who have assisted them and the local Gundijmara people who have welcomed them to country and shared some local stories. It is certainly a relationship we wish to build upon and hope we can have students from BC visit Yiyili in the future.

Mrs Lisa Guegan-Brown with her Yiyili girls who are staying with her for the duration of their visit

Author Scott Gardiner

The author Scott Gardiner is today in the school as yet another curricular link to promoting a love of reading and writing. The students were very impressed by his presentations and I would like to thank both Mrs Dempsey and Mrs Cowland for their organisation. These type of incursions are invaluable to our students and they gain much form the experience.

SRC Focus on waste

The SRC not only organised the Halloween day but have a strong focus on the minimisation of waste and in particular litter around our school and patch of Hamilton. They are working towards removing waste producing items from the canteen, freshening up bins and bin locations and rostering groups of students to help keep the yard tidy. We can all do our little bit to help in this area and ensure we have a beautiful environment in which to live and learn.

Parent opinion survey data

Thank you to those parents who completed the parent opinion survey data. The data is absolutely valuable to a school that is looking to make changes towards more personalised learning and skill consolidation for a changing work and life landscape. We wish to hear from you (parents and students) as often as possible and do not want to limit your opinion and voice to once a year. Please encourage your child to speak to us when needed and please feel welcome to contact myself or any of our staff at any time.

Warwick Price