I am writing this from the guest house at our school property in Gongolgon, 35 minutes south of the small town of Brewarrina. This is where GPCC has a 1200 acre property which we plan to use for outdoor education, mission and service activities with our students. We also plan to use the existing closed school on the site to open a school for local children in 2023. 

This week I met with a group of Brewarrina parents interested in placing their children in the school. This is the second meeting we have had with them, and it was challenging to listen as they talked about what their children’s needs are in education. They want a quality education for their children where they are given every opportunity to flourish – no different to what any of you as GPCC parents want. Our challenge and responsibility is to create a schooling environment both here and at GPCC, that not only allows that but facilitates it. 

For many of the children here in Brewarrina, life is a challenge and a struggle. Small country towns in outback NSW suffer many disadvantages. Life expectancy is short for Aboriginal people so death is common. Speaking to our friend, Pastor Isaac Gordon, he undertakes funerals in the district almost every week and last week conducted one for his niece who was only in her 30’s and has left behind 2 young children. There are many reasons for this situation, but lack of a quality education is one which leads to many children seeing little hope for a positive future. 

I seldom make political statements, but I believe our Governments – State and Federal, are failing many Australian children with education systems that are too tightly controlled to allow professional educators to operate schools that can really meet the needs of the communities they serve. I also think that an increasingly secular society that has abandoned traditional values that arose from the Christian faith tradition, has resulted is no sound moral and ethical basis for education, and it is children who suffer in this environment.

As a school that wants its graduates to be socially involved, we are trying to lead by example and reach out to the Brewarrina community to offer practical help and hope. As more of our students visit this community, I trust they will be challenged to consider how their gifts, abilities and education, can be used to benefit others and not just themselves. 

This week, Mr McGillivray leads a team of boys to Brewarrina on mission. They will be involved with the Church but also learn about Aboriginal culture and history. They will get to know the young people of the town and will be challenged to value the opportunities they have on the Central Coast and at GPCC as an invitation for them to serve others. 

At GPCC we continue to work at improving the standard of education we offer. We believe that education is a key means of developing the next generation and we want to do that in such a way that our graduates make a positive difference in their communities.

Phillip Nash

Principal