You can tell it’s the end of the year when you need your calendar open in a special window at all times.
Last week we held the DeLorean Showcase, Vocal Recitals, Guitar Recitals, Business Market Stalls and ended the week with the Dance and Drama Showcase. That was on top of the usual incursions, excursions, teaching and exams!
Middle and Senior School Presentation Events
This week has been even bigger with some of the most significant events of the whole year in one week. On Wednesday we held the Middle School Presentation Ceremony at 8:45am and then it was the turn of our Senior School students at 11:15am. This is the first time we have held them as two separate ceremonies and a lot of thought went into the decision.
One of the main reasons to split the ceremonies was to reduce the time for such a large number of students and their families. Another reason is so that we could fit everyone into the theatre. Even though we enjoyed having the whole Secondary School together in the past, we wanted to make full use of our lovely new theatre. The new venue enhances the significance of the ceremonies and provides comfortable chairs and air conditioning for students and their families.
If you are a parent of a Secondary student, then I hope you were able to enjoy the ceremonies either in person or online as they were streamed on Gateway. These events are important milestones for our Secondary students. Regardless of whether the student received an award or not, they are to be congratulated for giving it their absolute best in what was a challenging year.
We will share all the photos with you as soon as they are received back from the professional photographer. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy these photo son Pixevety with families in the foyer:
Middle School Presentation Family Photos on Pixevety
Senior School Presentation Family Photos on Pixevety
Year 12 Graduation
This was another first! Our first ever Graduation in our new theatre and it was a very special event. Rather than talk about the Graduation, I thought I would share with you my address to the Class of 2021.
Congratulations class of 2021! You have done it. Today is your last day of school.
This is the end of a thirteen-year journey and it is right to celebrate with your friends and family.
Students, you have been a wonderful student cohort. A Principal’s dream really. You have been a cohort of young people who have worked quietly and diligently behind the scenes. You have been genuine contributors to a positive school community and you are a fine example of the graduates that we aspire to send into the world from this College.
I have vivid memories of many of you, particularly those of you that I was first introduced to in Prep and the early years of Primary School. It has truly been one of my great privileges to see how you have matured over those years, and how you have become the wonderful young people you are today.
Parents I am sure you can recall that first day of school. Their little bodies swimming in their oversized school uniform, their heads disappearing in their hats and their school bags awkwardly dangling off their backs. I am sure too you can recall the pride, the anticipation, the fear and the wonderment in their faces.
I am sure you do recall but perhaps what you can’t believe is that was thirteen years ago. Where does the time go!
On behalf of the College, I would like to thank you for trusting us with the educational journey of your child. Thank you for your partnership and your support.
Graduates, I am sure you will agree with me that your parents deserve a huge portion of this celebration also. I am also sure that you would like to thank them for the many sacrifices that they have made to get you to the finish line. Nothing could have been achieved without their love and support.
I also include grandparents, friends and other family members in this thank you also.
I think it would be fitting for everyone here to give a round of applause because in a very real way this is just as much their graduation too.
There are some other people too that I would like to thank at this time.
Firstly I would like to thank our teachers for their dedication, sacrifice and friendship. We are blessed to have such wonderful, wonderful teachers at this College from Prep right through to Year 12 and I would like to congratulate them on the fine work they have done in moulding you into who you are today and who you are yet to become. Teachers, the evidence is before you, you have done an excellent job.
Pastor Syd, Pastor Donna and Pastor Isaiah thank you for the spiritual guidance, wisdom and love that you have lavished on these young people and for “praying without ceasing”.
Mrs McKee thank you for helping the class of 2021 navigate their post school options with genuine love and care.
Mr Heyworth and Mr Bullock the leadership role that you have played during these last three years has been invaluable. You have been wise and loving guides for our students in the last stages of their journey. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the great job that you have both done.
Mrs Bull, Mrs Wiggins and Mrs Moore I know that you have had a huge part to play in the journey of these students as well. I would like to thank you for the genuine care, kindness and at times tough love you have shown to these students.
There are many other people too that I would like to thank, too numerous to mention unfortunately, but you know who I am talking about. Sometimes they are in the foreground but most of the time quietly working away in the background. They do their job so well they are hardly noticed. They are the plethora of support people that keep this place running. They are a blessing and I would like to acknowledge them and thank them for being the quiet achievers, the unassuming backbone of this great College.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the beautiful gift of the indigenously inspired mural on the southern external wall on the UA. I would also like to thank a great friend of the College Mr Peter Hughes for his skill and patience and generosity as the mural has taken shape. Students, I think this is a wonderful way to bring life and colour to an otherwise drab part of the College. The message will be an inspiration for many generations of GCC students to follow, particularly our indigenous students who I am sure will find it a great source of pride and for all of us a great picture of our unity within our diversity.
The mural has been a labour of love for so many of you but you should be very proud of what you have accomplished.
And now our time together is drawing to a close and it is with sadness that we say goodbye because we will genuinely miss you. Quite simply you are a bunch of really lovely people. I pray that you will remember your time here with great fondness, I pray you will live the values that you have been taught here no matter where life takes you and I pray that you will find your God-given purpose in life.
Finally, I would like to leave you with the lyrics of a beautiful song called the Blessing that was made popular during the pandemic. The song was based on two bible passages in the Old Testament.
The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace
May His favour be upon you
And a thousand generations
And Your family and your children
And their children, and their children
May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with you
In the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you.
Class of 2021 you are going to be GREAT!
Mike Curtis, Principal
If you missed out on the Graduation service, you can watch it here on YouTube.
Many of the clap out photos are already on Pixevety and can be seen here, here and here. We will bring you all the on stage graduation photos as soon as they are received from the professional photographer.