From the Principal – 4 August 2023

Dear parents and carers

Our students have made a great start to the semester and it has been wonderful to witness the energy and confidence they have brought to their new classes and electives. This is a tribute to them, to the support you give to them in their endeavours and to the work of our teachers, many of whom spent the mid semester break planning for the return of our students.

At our recent Assembly at which I delivered the occasional address to our staff and students, I spoke about ‘heroism’ which I said comes from ancient Greek and means ‘the one who can choose’. As part of my address, I spoke to them about the ‘heroic journey’ as a journey of choice and often one which is ‘counter cultural’ or about making choices that are different to the prevailing cultural norms, adding that the heroic journey is often an interpretation of life through a person’s own lens and experience. I went on to say that to seek an education is the finest ‘choice’ that any person can make in their lives, that education is the window to possibility, to enlisting and expanding the imagination and to opening up all that their teachers, their parents and I aspire for them now and in the future. Education is, I said, the fuel and skill development for thinking outside the box, for thinking creatively and critically and for challenging what has always been, and for the development of the skills they will need to be effective citizens and leaders in the 21^st Century.  

I am very keen for our students to hear from a variety of guest speakers including their peers as an opportunity to challenge their thinking and expand their repertoire of language and ideas and hope to invite a number of guests to deliver the occasional address at future assemblies.

I wish to congratulate those students who competed in the Australian Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition last semester. We celebrated their individual and collective achievement at our Assembly last week and I am delighted and very proud to announce that these students are:

Year 7: Jack F, Finn H, Liam M, Jivin P,

Year 8: Imogen B, Elisha C, Elijah L, Theo P

Year 9: Alexander F, Thomas F, Will T

Year 10: Cameron C, Oluwadamilare F, Amelia H

Year 11: Mazen O, Tahlia R

Year 12: Jessica F, Jack F, Charlie G

I am very keen to expand the range of elective choices offered in our junior school and have been delighted with the number of new units of study that have been prepared by my Academic team and which will now be offered to our Year 10 students in 2024. These reflect the most contemporary interpretations of elective choice and will provide our students with even great agency in their learning in the future. If you don’t yet have a child preparing for Year 10 and are interested in finding out more about the full range of elective choices please view our Electives Guide. We intend to further expand the elective range offered in Year 9 in 2025.

I also wish to expand the range of opportunities available for students in our Senior School and to that end in preparation for 2024, we have increased our suite of senior courses available to include Sports Development, Sociology and Accounting. These new courses have already been met with great enthusiasm by our Year 10 students as they begin their planning for their studies in 2024.     

Thank you to those parents who joined us for our Year 9 and 10 Electives Information Evening and our Year 11, Course Counselling interviews last week. I am deeply appreciative of your investment and interest in your children’s education and the work of the College.   

I hope that each of you and your families have a wonderful Semester. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any member of staff should you need to.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

Sandra Darley    

College Principal