Every year I say, “This was our biggest Grandparents’ Day ever” thinking that surely it can’t grow any larger but every year I am wrong. This year we had more than 620 registered guests for the special day and the logistics were challenging to say the least!
Our staff parked offsite to make more room for grandparents and our students moved their break activities to the oval. Everyone worked together to make this the best Grandparents’ Day ever.
Cooking for so many people is a huge task however, once again Julie Peters, Sharon Wolsley and the Hospitality students rose to the occasion. Weeks before the event grandparents were talking about how much they were looking forward to the morning tea and they certainly weren’t disappointed.
This year we gave our grandparents the small gift of a car sticker saying “Proud to be a GCC Grandparent” inside a special GCC gusseted shopping bag with a card base. We purchased quite a few of these bags in the lead up to the state government’s complete phasing out of all non-reusable plastic bags. If you would like some for your grocery shopping they can be purchased from the Uniform Shop for just $1.50 each.
The concert, set up, classroom activities and all the small details that go into the day was orchestrated seamlessly. I want to thank the Property Team, IT and Penny White in particular for their behind the scenes work. This year we enjoyed a welcome with a difference and I was able to tick ‘be a guest star on the Muppet Show’ off my bucket list.
The concert performances were terrific and I’m sure our grandparents were wowed by our talented students. It was very fitting having our Head of Primary Cheryl Bryers (more on that later) be our guest speaker and her talk on grandchildren being God’s gift to grandparents and future generations was inspiring.
Welcome baby Noah
Congratulations to Maryke van Eck and her husband Werner on the birth of Noah. Noah was born at 34 weeks and spent some time in special care nursery but is now home with mum and dad and settling into routine.
Maryke wrote to the College thanking everyone for their prayers, “Noah is a miracle and we are so fortunate to be his parents,” she said. “He is such a good baby and has gained 190g this week since leaving the nursery.” Maryke added, “He is a fighter and we know God is protecting him; there is power in prayer and we are so blessed to have you all praying for him”.
A very special announcement
At the end of last week, Cheryl Bryers announced that she would be retiring at the end of 2018. Cheryl has served the College faithfully for almost 18 years and was Principal for eight of those years and Head of Primary for the last ten. Cheryl came to the College at a time when it was a struggling new school with just a few students and her godliness, wisdom, dedication and seemingly endless energy has made an immeasurable contribution to where we are today. It is very difficult to imagine a GCC without the amazing Mrs Bryers and I’m sure there will be many tear-stained faces at the end of the year. In the meantime, we will enjoy having Cheryl at the helm for many more months before facing our fond farewells.
Holiday time
There may not be as many trips to the beach as the Christmas holidays but I hope you have a lovely relaxing break enjoying time with your friends and family. We are blessed in Queensland to experience sunny dry winters – perfect for bushwalking, camping and climbing mountains. I hope you enjoy these holidays as much as I plan to.
Mike Curtis, Principal