Dear Parents, Staff and Students

Term Three has come to an end and students and teaching staff can take a breath before the final term for 2018; for Year 12 their last ever. While it may be a boring cliché this year has simply flown. Camps are all completed, Year 12 QCS tests are over and the Music concerts have ended for the term. The two ensemble concerts held last week and this have been simply incredible. We have such talented students and amazing music tutors who have certainly brought out the best in them. Both the Primary and the Secondary Ensemble Evenings contained wonderful performances worthy of a concert hall setting. Congratulations to all involved.  

This week we completed the 30 days of Gratitude – an initiative of the SRC and Chaplaincy of the College. Thank you to all who have contributed to this event so willingly. There is so much for us to be grateful for in our College and community. It has been terrific reading the specific items of student gratitude on the electronic sign in front of the College. Gratitude is a strong indicator of healthy wellbeing, so it is good to know there are so many expressions of gratitude coming from our students and staff. The real test is to continue to express gratitude beyond this special 30-day period.

A chance to have your say

An important element of our Strategic Agenda of continued improvement as a College is to engage with our community. To that end, we are planning to conduct a survey that will enable you to let us know what you think about various aspects of our College. We have engaged a company to conduct the online survey that will take place in Weeks 2 and 3 of Term 4. You will receive details in an email in the coming weeks, about how you can access the survey. It is important for all families to engage in this survey to give us maximum benefit. There will be separate surveys for Parents, Staff and Students (Years 4-12). We have used this same company twice before, in 2011 and 2015, and found the results were extremely helpful in our planning. We were also pleased with the high level of involvement of parents in particular. The survey will ask you to rate various aspects of the College on a five-point scale, and you will also be given some open ended questions where you can answer more fully. Keep an eye out for the email letting you know how and when you can complete the survey. I look forward to receiving your feedback.

Many of you will have emailed, spoken to or received correspondence from my Assistant, Lorelle Armitage, at some stage during your time with the College. I am sorry to inform you that Lorelle will leave the College at the end of next week to take up a role in Brisbane supporting the Executive Director of the Anglican Schools Commission (ASC). Lorelle has been a most loyal and efficient assistant for just on ten years but has recently found the travel from the north side of Brisbane each day to be very testing. This is a very positive move for Lorelle and the ASC. I take this opportunity to thank Lorelle for her dedicated, professional service to our College and for her support of me in particular, and wish her well for the future. In the final days of Gratitude, I am extremely grateful to Lorelle for her wonderful support over ten years.

As we finish for the term, please note that the Government schools have one week to go. This means that for the first week of our Term 4 the buses will not be running. Given the amount of notice we have for this situation, it is important that you take the time to plan how you will get your children to and from the College in Week 1 commencing Tuesday 2 October. 

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

Mark Sly - Principal