From the Principal

Welcome to the new year

It is great to be back! We were delighted to welcome 1 555 students to the College this week to officially commence the new school year. With masks being worn by all staff and secondary students, it was certainly a start with a difference. We are very appreciative of the support provided by our community in following the guidelines for this week.

At many of the year level assemblies, I mentioned that it was wonderful to be part of a very good school in a great city in a wonderful country. The COVID challenges being faced in other parts of the world reinforce the view of Australia as the ‘lucky country’.

At the secondary school assembly, we welcomed many of our ‘high achievers’ from 2020. With restrictions in place, we contemplated delaying the assembly but were conscious of upcoming university commitments for many of last year’s students. The achievements of the class of 2020 were very meritorious given the challenges of the past 12 months.

The start of a new year is time for resolutions. School is no exception – we plan to be better organised, to study harder, to get fitter. There is always room for growth and improvement.

I was recently forwarded a story about Alfred Nobel. We all know Mr Nobel as the man who endowed the prize that bears his name. There are in fact 5 prizes in his name in the areas of peace, literature and science. But how did these prizes come about?

Nobel was a brilliant inventor; he held over 350 patents. He is famous for inventing dynamite and then he went on to make a fortune manufacturing military weapons. This is how, early on, he made a name for himself, supplying the world’s armies with weapons.

In 1888 a French newspaper published an obituary of Mr Nobel. It was a critical piece and the title read, “The Merchant of Death is Dead”. It went on to say: 

“Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

Some people found this obituary very upsetting, especially Mr Nobel himself. You see, he didn’t die until eight years later, in 1896. The newspaper made a mistake and published the piece prematurely. (It was his brother, Ludwig, who had died that year.) However, the mistake had a good effect on Mr Nobel. It caused him to take stock of his life and he resolved to leave a better legacy. He left most of his fortune to endow the prize with his name. We can always resolve to do better! Have a great year.

Robert Henderson

Principal