From the Principal

Dear Friends,

What a delight it is to welcome families into the new College year. We are all trusting that our classrooms will hold a more restful and focussed place for learning than previous years. Nevertheless, we remain prepared for what is foreseeable. We hope you share the College perspective that it has been a wonderful beginning to new learning and the programs we have run in the first two weeks. Oxley has welcomed many new students and some new staff into the College community. We are so appreciative of the new families among us. We were also pleased to host morning teas for our Prep and Year 7 parents last week that were well attended, and we are looking forward to the events coming up on the calendar.

I also acknowledge our graduating class of 2021, who achieved some excellent VCE results. It is a credit to the resilience of these students and to the staff who had prepared them over many years. We congratulate the whole cohort on an amazing effort. Our printed copy of the 2021 Yearbook, Chapter and Verse, is currently being distributed to students which includes many reflections on a wonderful year at Oxley, despite the many challenges. 

Looking forward, we anticipate the completion of the Middle Years building project to be roughly on time for occupancy in Term 3. This will be followed by the relocation of our ICT Services into refurbished rooms adjacent to the Resource Centre and Staff Room. All the remaining relocatable rooms will then be removed, and our site prepared for landscaping and new playground areas and facilities. It will be an exciting completion to this superb development of the College. 

Naturally, our College has an interest in our National Parliament’s proceedings around its Religious Freedoms Bill. It is too early to say what the outcome might be, but we know how big the challenge is for the government to get it right, and to hold onto bipartisan support. The apparent need for such legislation is a reflection on issues at large in our society. Beneath day-to-day events there are deep ideological philosophies at play that are collectively referred to as a postmodern narrative. These socio-political movements are in essence tribal and divisive in nature, each having their own niche demands. With the demise in western culture of the civic-religious story that once gave life meaning and purpose, the foundations for these new social justice causes have been laid for decades. But it is the last decade that has somehow provided a loud and vengeful voice to their cause. 

As a Christian organisation, Oxley seeks to comprehend evolving ideologies that affect education, but also to be respected for the long-held freedoms to enjoy traditional biblical perspectives of life under the grace of God.

Warm regards,

Douglas Peck