I hope you all had a wonderful, restful and relaxing holiday and are filled with vim and vigour for another action-packed term at GCC.

Woolworths Earn and Learn

Thank you all of you who participated in the Woolworths Earn and Learn promotion. It is because of your diligence in collecting these tokens. We filled 695 sheets adding up to 41,700 points. Although Woolworths don’t assign a dollar value to the points, the additional educational resources were substantial and very welcome. I would like to thank Woolworths for their generosity and investing into the future of our children in such a tangible way. I would also like to thank Mr Michael Lunn for making the trip and delivering these fantastic resources to us personally.

Open Day

Open Day is only one week away on Saturday May 14 between 10 and 2pm. For many of you this was your first introduction to our excellent school and this is going to be true for many of our new and future families. It is a great day when we as a College are able to share with our present and future community what it means to belong to GCC and what educational opportunities we can offer.
There will be student performances, plenty of entertainment for the little ones such as a jumping castle and petting zoo, the Eagle Hunt and a wealth of other attractions. The train will also be coming back again this year so that you will be able to more comfortably tour our ever-expanding campus. Of course, if you prefer a more in-depth and personalised tour, we will have student-led tours operating throughout the day. There will also be a variety of food options for free and for purchase. The Open Day program was emailed out to all families last Friday so please consult this for more details. It is also on our website.

Open Day is a great opportunity for you to see your child’s classroom and some of their work. It is also a time when you can catch up with some of the recent developments that have been happening around the campus.

Finally, it is the perfect opportunity to invite your friends and neighbours to the College so they can see first hand this school that you have been talking to them about for so long. They will be able to meet me and the other Heads of School so they can have their questions about the College.

Baby news

Mrs Rochelle Harrison, our Primary Music Teacher who left us near the end of last term on maternity leave, gave birth to a lovely baby girl named Amara Ellee on March 21. All the family are doing well and I am sure you will join with me in congratulating Rochelle and her husband Ken on the birth of their first child.

We would also like to congratulate Chappy Mick and his wife Ann on the birth of their new baby boy named Elijah Sean on April 14. I am happy to say that the family are also doing very well.

Staff movements

Unfortunately, since the last newsletter we have had some staff who have left the College. Mel Parker has been a College staff member for the last five years in various capacities beginning as a Teaching Assistant in Prep and finally as the Administrative Assistant in the Future Pathways Department.

Also, you would have seen my email last week about the sudden resignation of Lesley-ann Rosenberg our Lower Primary Coordinator. Lesley-ann was with us for 10 years beginning as a Prep teacher and finally as the Lower Primary Coordinator since 2011. Each class in the lower primary have been working on a farewell card for Mrs Rosenberg among other gifts and items which we will ensure she receives.

Both of these ladies have been wonderful contributors to the College and will be sadly missed by us and by the wider College community. I am sure you will join with me in thanking them for their many years of service and wishing them God’s richest blessings on their future endeavours.

Easter and Anzac Services

At the end of last term we had our Easter Service where as a College from Prep to Year 12 we celebrated the gift of eternal salvation we have through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was an excellent service with student-led dance, drama and musical performances and a vibrant message of hope from Chappy Fi. I would like to congratulate the Middle School students and staff for their organisation of this event. Photos here.

We celebrated our Anzac service on the Friday before Anzac Day and this was also a ceremony marked with the sense of occasion that such an important day deserves. We were privileged to hear from Mr Jason Hatcher, a soldier who had only just recently returned from Afghanistan, talk about his experiences of mateship and courage. He also spoke about how the Australian Defence Force are making important peacetime contributions in places like East Timor. I would also like to congratulate the students and staff of Primary School for their excellent organisation of this event. Photos here.

Anzac Community Service

It was another extremely positive showing from our College at our local march as we paid our respects to those who sacrificed so much in the service of our country. It was a pleasure to make an even greater contribution to the service itself than in previous years as our band provided the music, our College Captains Moale and Josh read “For the Fallen” and Hannah and Lani providing some beautiful singing. Bakani did a fantastic job as the bugler for the service. It was a very special service made all the more meaningful by the fact that it marked a new and beautiful cenotaph erected at Turner Park.

I would like to once again thank everyone who was involved. Anzac day is important to us and it is also important to teach the next generation about something of what it meant to lay down your life for the values that we take pretty much for granted today. More photos here.

Beauty and the Beast

Have you got your ticket for Beauty and the Beast? The students have been working incredibly hard during rehearsal and the opening night is only a fortnight away. This is far and away the most ambitious musical we have ever done and it is fitting that we hold such an event in the Caloundra Events Centre. The sets and costumes are amazing, the talented cast are ready and the orchestra are sounding incredible. It promises to be a thoroughly entertaining performance.
An adult ticket is 25 dollars which represents excellent value and can be purchased by clicking here.

Date Claimer Funfest 30 July

Don’t forget about Funfest on 30 July. By now all of the classes and year levels in the Middle and Senior School will have been allocated their unique and particular stalls and the excitement is growing. This is a great community event that the students enjoy very much. Please donate generously when your parent representative asks you for your help in readiness for Funfest this year.

Trivia night this Saturday

The annual P and F Trivia night is on this Saturday night and you would have received information about this. They are always really fun nights and I look forward to reporting more about the event in the next newsletter.

Mike Curtis, Principal