Principal's Log

It was energising to connect with families across our Middle College and Prep – Year 5 at our Information Evenings this week. The evenings provided an important opportunity for parents to learn more about the cultural underpinnings of learning at Pacific. Young people grow best where they experience a strong synergy between the culture of being, thinking and learning at home and in school. The evenings also provided opportunity for parents to connect with each other and with staff. We thank our Hospitality team for providing tasty canapes and refreshments for our Middle College and Prep – Year 5 Information Evenings. We thank our Chaplain, leadership team and teachers for their valuable input into the evenings and parents for your attendance and engagement. We look forward to a year where we continue to build parent engagement and capacity to enhance learning.

Our Scholars’ Assembly provided the opportunity to celebrate the students who were top of subject and the 25 students who had achieved an ATAR of 90 or more. We valued the opportunity to listen to the 2022 Dux Noah Winten and to celebrate the achievements of the 2023 Dux Ben McCormac (99.75) and Proxime Accessit Daniel Whittingham (99.35). We also congratulated two of our 2023 graduates on being awarded scholarships. Evy Gover has received a partial scholarship for a 2- year degree of musical theatre with The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, school of film and television. Evy’s partial scholarship is valued over $20,000 US. Abigail Tracey was also awarded a $10,000 scholarship from QUT for Women in Science, Mathematics and IT Merit. Hugo Winten has since been offered a QUT Excellence in Creative Industries scholarship having a value of $10,000. We thank Noah Winten for his thought-provoking reflections about maintaining balance and friendships throughout Year 12 and the first year of University, our graduates and their parents for their attendance and Head of Learning Senior College, Ms Anne-Marie Gerlach for her leadership of the event.

We look forward to the return of our Year 8 students on Friday afternoon from their 5-day Outdoor Education experience. The experience has provided wonderful opportunities for each student to grow in their connections to each other, the environment and to God. Important skills of teamwork, problem solving, self-confidence, and social emotional capacities are also expanded through the experience. We thank Head of Outdoor Education, Mr Paul Brace for his organisation and leadership. We also thank Ms Alisha Bausch, Mr Rob Belchamber, Mr Sam Irwin, Mrs Sharon Middleton, Miss Taylor Edwards, Miss Rebekah Horsey, and Mr Josh Danzey, for their generosity of time in connecting with and leading our students on camp.

I will be on leave from Thursday 1^st February until Monday 12^th February. During this time Director of Students, Ms Leigh Finter and Head of Learning K-5, Mrs Sue Zweck will be Acting Principals.

We pray that God would continue to spark a sense of wonder and creativity into all that we do.

Dr Bronwyn Dolling, Principal