Welcome to Term 2. Last term I took you through our new Core Purpose Statement, our Mission Goals and our Graduate Profile. I hope you can see what we are trying to achieve by having a clear focus on why we exist and what we aim to help you do for your children. This is a partnership exercise, so we need to work together to make a real impact on their lives.

One of the things I noted when I started at GPCC last year, was the message that this is a school that cares for its students but don’t expect too much in the way of academics. This is the Coast after all! I did note a trend for families to look to Gosford High School for example, or other Independent schools as their children prepared to enter Year 7. Yet my experience of the students and the teachers has told me that we can expect more.

Even today, I called into the Mathematics staffroom where a teacher was very excited at the quality of the work his senior students were doing. He was blown away by the creativity and talent of students who were applying mathematical formulas in a real world setting and achieving amazing results. I plan to post some of this on our FB page so you too can see what is being done.

I like to wander around and talk to senior students who are on study periods to see what they are doing. I am confident that the work they are producing is up there with the best and we have some very intelligent and hard-working students. Having come from an IB school full of Asian students who aspired to enter the best universities in the world, I have a good comparison to make and although we are not quite there yet, we have the potential to be as good.

So, what is missing? Well, we have to change the culture. Too many of you (and it does start at home) have not worked to inspire your child to dream about big things. That is why we promoted the NASA Space School – we want our students to dream of such achievements and then learn what they need to do to get there. What expectations do you really have of your child? Are they big enough? Are you training them to have the work ethic and discipline needed to at least have a good go at getting to their dream?

If we have this attitude then we can generate a school culture of high expectations, of discipline, of focused learning that will inspire many more to go further and higher than even we may think possible. Don’t be afraid of this. It is a good thing. We are created with immense potential and none of us really know what we can achieve until we seriously set out on the journey to find out.

Now some may be thinking of their child who suffers from severe learning needs or anxiety or other issues that get in the way of their learning. Even these children can achieve great things. We all know too many stories of the so-called "school failure" who goes on to make a significant difference in the world. We should still have high hopes for their future too.

Facing challenge and overcoming it is the greatest experience any child can have in their formative years. School presents the possibility of this for all – let’s make GPCC such a place that it leads our graduates to be people who live differently and make a difference in the world.

Phillip Nash

Principal