Students are back and things have got off to a positive start. I wrote recently that the three week break is long and it is not only you as parents that are glad school is back, many students tell me they are glad to be back too. School is not always a positive place for some students. Friendships, struggling with learning, other life issues all can contribute to a student not wanting to come to school. Thank you to those parents who work with us to help their child get to school where we can try to make it a good place for them.

This term we have two new counsellors starting with us. Jarel Kilgour who was with us for over 4 years has left to pick up home duties so his wife can continue with her career and Claire Tamman has obtained a good role in another school. We welcomed Nikki Reid last week and we hope to announce another counsellor in the next few days. When new people start in roles like this, it is an opportunity to refresh our procedures and Nikki will be doing that so you can expect to hear from her. I also want to welcome our new Director of ICT, Jerome Naidu.  He comes with plenty of high level industry experience and some years ago worked in a school as well. Our long term ICT Manager, Steve Wegener, is staying on in a project and customer service role. We have an excellent ICT system and a great team of technicians and engineers who keep everything running for us and our system secure.

Our new GPCC app launched this week so don’t forget to download it. We trust it will make communication with you easier and timelier. My thanks go to Brendan Wood our Marketing Director and Jess McPhee, our Marketing Officer who have put in a huge amount of time to get it right and make it useful.

We have commenced minor renovations in the classroom next to our current administration block as we prepare to move out of the old building and begin construction on the new one. That should begin before year’s need and the build will take at least 12 months so we will have noise and disruption during 2024. We will also be utilising the house next to the petrol station, so work is being undertaken their also.

Nothing significant is achieved in life without hard work and some disruption to normal routines. The HSC requires dedicated attention in class and many hours of self and group study. Year 12 students were telling me how it impacted their term break this week as they sought to put time into exam preparation with trial exams starting in a few days. This is normal and we should encourage our children to expect this, and that significant achievement requires the opportunity cost of giving up something now for a future gain. However, it is important they continue to keep balance in their lives with sport, friends and family time all needed to keep them healthy and focused.

Term 3 is exam prep term for Year 12, but for most of our students it is the engine room term when they have settled into their year level and now need to get on with the hard work of learning as much as they can. You can help by engaging with them on what they are doing at school and encouraging them to keep going when the going gets tough.

Phillip Nash