From the Principal (Issue 12, 2021)

Dear Parents and Caregivers
Term 4 has begun in typical Frederick Irwin style with our students returning with fantastic good humour, ready for the final flurry of hard work before the end of the year. As always, it was a pleasure to see them all on Tuesday morning and to witness their excitement at seeing one another after the break.
One of my great loves is good children’s picture books and one of my favourites is the 1994 UNICEF Illustrator’s Award winner entitled Spirit of Hope by Bob Graham. This beautifully illustrated children’s story follows the lives of the Fairweather family: mum, dad, six children, a dog, two rabbits and a turtle, as they struggle to keep their home when it is threatened by industrial development (a bit like the iconic Australian film, The Castle), to the point where they accept that they cannot win but come to the wonderful realisation that their home is not defined by the place where it is situated but by the love that is so evident within their family. This is what is really important in any family – the ability to be resilient because of the sense of belonging and the sense of security that is generated from within. This is also true of a school where, before students can learn effectively, they need to feel safe, secure, connected and have a sense of belonging, so that resilience can be almost second nature and, when things do go wrong, students (and I might add, parents and staff; indeed, all members of the school community) are able to pick themselves up, brush themselves off and look to the next challenge which needs to be overcome.
This year our theme of Hope is reflected in the Fairweather family; the new home in which they finally find themselves is a houseboat called Spirit of Hope – they had hope for the future because they could rely on each other.
Year 12s
The first two weeks of Term 4 always find us with very mixed emotions. It is an incredibly exciting time for our Year 12s as they come to the end of 14 years of schooling. Yet, it is also a time for sadness and reflection.
Next week there will be a number of opportunities for students and staff to farewell our Year 12s and to thank them for their contribution to our School. However, also in this newsletter, I would like to thank them for their wonderful leadership as the seniors in the School over the course of this year and the responsible manner in which they have conducted themselves.
We wish them every success in the coming examinations and the future.
Staff
We welcome two staff members back from Long Service Leave this term:
Mr Efrain Dayog (Mathematics)
Mrs Katrina Wade (Year 3 – Meadow Springs)
We also welcome to our School:
Mr Thomas Balkwill (Humanities and Social Sciences)
Mr Matt Martinovich (Primary Health and Physical Education – Meadow Springs);
Mrs Shelley Rasmussen (Year 1 – Halls Head)
Mrs Tina Sparshatt-Potter (Uniform Shop)
Mrs Louise Thompson (Administrative Assistant)
Thank you to the following members of staff who have taken on extra responsibilities this term:
Mrs Tammy de Mouncey (Administrative Assistant)
Mrs Peta Sattler (Secondary Learning Enrichment).
We have one staff member going on leave, starting Monday 25 October (once the Year 12s have left) and we wish him a restful and relaxing break:
Mr Stephen King
I wish everyone an enjoyable and productive final term of 2021.
Kerry Robertson
Principal