Principal's Reflection - Term 3 2023

​Little Shop of Horrors
Last year, the College commenced preparations, rehearsals and planning for our recent production, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. The cast and crew thrilled five separate audiences with their entertaining and highly professional interpretation of this favourite musical production. The feedback we have received from people who saw the show has been wonderful and a testament to the many hours of dedication, mostly on weekends and after hours, by all concerned. I congratulate all of our students who were involved and thank our key staff in Mr Matthew Grigsby (Producer), Miss Erin Kelly (Director), Mr Neil Gregson (Assistant Director), Mr James Softly (Musical Director), Mrs Ruth Lamb (Costume Design), Mr Tim Carrier (Set Design and Construction), Ms Kathryn Chynoweth (Props and Costumes), Mr Digby Edwards (Set Construction), Mrs Rachael Nguyen (Promotions), Mrs Barb O’Donovan (Props), Mr Josh Crothers (Drummer), Mr Ian Weggler (Bass Guitarist) for their outstanding efforts. Well done to everyone!

Athletics Carnival
My thanks go to all staff, and especially Mr Joe Italiano, Sports Coordinator, along with the Health and Physical Education Learning Area, for organising our Interhouse Athletics Carnival. It was a fantastic event, and it was great to see so many of our students competing for their Houses and enjoying the day. Congratulations to all our students who tried their best, regardless of where they finished in an event. The most important thing is that you try your best. A special congratulations to our students in Bishop House who were the overall winners! In addition, I offer my congratulations to all our students who were chosen to represent the College at the ACC Carnival in Week 9 where we finished third in B Division.

​Book Week
The College celebrated Book Week recently with this year’s theme being ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’. It was fantastic to see so many of our students and staff become involved in the various activities organised by the English Learning Area and Library staff. Our Year 7 students, along with their senior school buddy, looked fantastic in their costumes and the ‘Book Week Parade’ proved to be a huge hit. I am not sure who enjoyed dressing up more, our students or our staff! My thanks go to the many staff who made an effort to dress up for the occasion. Our students certainly loved seeing you dressed as your favourite book characters! 

​Year 9 Fathers’ Day Breakfast
The Year 9 Fathers’ Day Breakfast event was held at the end of Week 7 to acknowledge the contribution of fathers and significant males in the lives of our students. It was great to see so many gentlemen come and enjoy the morning with our students. I asked our students to take the time on Fathers’ Day to tell their Dad (or significant male role model) how important they are to them, and thank them for everything that they do. Whilst our young people may not realise it just yet, Dads’, and male role models, play a key role in shaping who they are as a person and who they will become in the future. This is a truly essential role in society, as much now as it has ever been. My thanks go to Mr Ben Ebsary, Director of Students – Year 9 and Ms Jacky Patience for coordinating the event. Thank you also to our many students and staff who came in early to set up and prepare breakfast.  

​Randolph Stow Awards
Winners for this year’s Randolph Stow Young Writers Awards were announced at a ceremony held at Geraldton Grammar School. This is an annual competition held by the City of Greater Geraldton Regional Library for all schools in the Mid-West to demonstrate their prose and poetry writing skills. This year, the Library received 545 entries from 26 schools across the Mid-West region. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of Mrs Kerry Faichney, Head of Learning Area – English, Ms Sarah Clune, Library Manager, and our English staff. It was wonderful to see so many of our students recognised for their fine work at this event. Well done to all our students who submitted entries to the competition and especially those who had their work recognised by the judges.   

​​Staff Retreat
Towards the end of the Term, the College held its annual staff retreat at Nukara Farm. The retreat is a wonderful opportunity for staff to reflect on their own faith journey away from the busyness of school. This year, we were very fortunate to have our retreat facilitated by Father Rob Galea. Father Rob is the founder of FRG Ministry, a charity organisation that ministers to over 1,400,000 people each year across the world.  In addition, he has featured in newspapers, magazines and TV shows worldwide, and was a contestant on X-Factor in 2015. Father Rob shared with staff his own faith story and celebrated a ‘teaching’ Mass where he explained the different rituals performed during the Mass. Feedback from staff has been very positive and I thank Father Rob for making himself available to the College for our staff retreat. I offer my sincere thanks to Mr Murray Gardiner, Director of Catholic Identity & Mission, and Mr Damian Ramos, Deputy Principal – Faith & Life, who organised the retreat and arranged for Father Rob to travel to Geraldton.   

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Year 8 Grandparents’ Day Morning Tea
It was wonderful to see so many people able to make it along to our Grandparents’ Morning Tea held on a cold morning in August. Whilst addressing our Grandparents’, I noted the unconditional love that can exist between a grandparent and a grandchild. Grandparents being a presence in their grandchildren’s lives is so powerful. Being there to support them, listen to them and watch them grow, much as they may well have done with their own children, but through a different lens and perhaps with the benefit of wisdom.

 Principal’s Honour List
Our academically high performing students were acknowledged at our recent whole school assembly. It was wonderful to recognise the hard work of these students formally in front of the whole College community. The Principal’s Award provides a benchmark for others in their pursuit of academic excellence. To all of our students who achieved their academic goals in Semester 1 2023, well done and keep up the great work!  

Year 12 Farewell
Our Year 12 students celebrated their final days of formal schooling this week. Their final Assembly was a great celebration and conclusion to their time at the College. It is important to stop and reflect on their achievement of finishing their secondary education. The College has valued the contribution that they have made as leaders. We thank them for their efforts and for further developing and nurturing the important sense of school spirit which we value so deeply. Our Year 12 students exited the College through a guard of honour. The front gates are then ceremoniously closed signifying that when one door closes, another door opens. We are proud of each and every one of our Year 12 students and we wish them every blessing and happiness as they begin the next chapter of their lives.   

​Kind Regards,
Mr Michael Williams
Principal