Our Seniors Vision: “To unite, encourage and empower the College”

It has certainly been a busy start to the year but I’m excited about what is happening.

Activities and programs started way before the end of the holidays with five of our College Captains attending a special leadership training camp held at Coolum. These were our two College Captains, Jordan and Ella and three of our Faith and Community Captains. From all accounts, they had an absolutely fantastic time and were challenged to do great things this year.

On the second day of term, these Captains were joined by the House Captains, Sports Captains, Arts Captain as well as all the Middle School Captains. The goal of this camp was for the Captains to focus their attention on the year ahead and to set some measurable goals.  At our recent Leaders Induction, the College Captains shared their thoughts and their vision for 2017 which is the heading for this newsletter article.

Another quote the Captains shared with the student body was : “Those who stand for nothing, will fall for anything”. They challenged the student body and in particular the Year 12s to make sure they stand up for their beliefs and not be afraid to share their ideas with others. “Don’t just be someone who follows the crowd but be a leader through your actions and stay true to the morals you have created for yourself.”

Finally they used the scripture 1 John 3:18 “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” to summarise their call to action in 2017.

Swimming Carnival

Last Friday we held the first of the Sports Carnivals for the year. The House Swimming Carnival was won by Ararat closely followed by Sinai and then Zion. This Friday 17 February, Ararat will celebrate their win with Pizzas served in the Year 12 Courtyard. Ararat students who competed on the day can wear their house shirts and sport uniform to school and bring $3 which will pay for quarter of a pizza and a can of softdrink.

The Swimming Carnival was a huge success and as usual the Sport Department managed to organise a carnival that had that unique blend of fun for everyone as well as serious competition for athletes. Photos from the day can be found here.

Diligence Awards

I’d like to congratulate all those students who received Diligence certificates at our first Assembly. These students received Very Good for effort in all or all but one of their subjects at the end of 2016. It is my experience that diligence in work is more highly regarded that excellence in academics and hence I always hand these certificates out first.

In Year 10 almost 20% of students received a certificate. In Year 11 this increased to over 26% and in Year 12, 23% received one. This clearly shows how hard our students are working and they deserve to be congratulated for their efforts.  

David Heyworth, Head of Senior School