Principal's Log

We congratulate our kayakers who won the School State Marathon Kayaking Championship for the 14th year in a row. After many months of hard work, the team overcame challenging conditions to take out the title last weekend. This success comes through the commitment of staff, students and parents. Mr Gary Graves has worked tirelessly over the past 14 years to provide this unique opportunity for students, repairing and transporting craft as well providing valuable coaching and encouragement to our young people. We thank Mr Graves for his outstanding leadership over many years, Mrs Natalie Campbell, Mrs Rae Hall and Mrs Colleen Beattie for their support in coaching our teams and Mr Brett Jones for his assistance at the championships. 

Congratulations to Liam and Keeton Dines who achieved a Distinction and High Distinction in their Headstart courses at the University of the Sunshine Coast. It is a credit to both students that they achieved these high standards at a tertiary level whilst also completing full time school study.

It is worth taking note of the new entry requirements for students wishing to apply for teaching courses at university. As highlighted in a later article by Mrs Natasha Purcell, applicants need to submit a 1000 word statement that outlines their work and life experiences, their motivation for entering teaching and their involvement in leadership and learning activities. Applicants also need to use this statement to demonstrate their capacity for resilience, organisation and planning as well as their interpersonal and communication skills. Through their engagement with the Pacific learning community, students have excellent opportunities to grow these attributes, which are important across most work contexts.

This week QTAC also released a video that provides background to the scaling processes which will be used as part of the new ATAR system. The new certification system will begin in 2020 for students who are currently in Year 9. In preparation for this new system, teachers have already been part of significant professional development provided by the QCAA. All members of our community are invited to watch this short, easy to understand presentation by clicking on the following link: http://www.qtac.edu.au/atar-2020.

May God grant us the capacity to be people who are good neighbours.

Dr Bronwyn Dolling, Principal