Principal’s Message | Dr Michael Carroll

Dear Members of the Terrace Family,

I trust you had a restful and pleasant Easter break. The abrupt and unexpected end to Term 1 was not quite how it was planned. I do hope people were safe during that time and did not sustain damage to property. With Term 1 behind us, it is important to approach Term 2 positively and from Day 1.

At the end of Term 1 we farewelled some staff who were going on leave or moving on from Terrace. I take this opportunity to welcome Mrs Kara O’Neill to Terrace. Kara is an experienced educator and will be teaching Japanese. We also welcome back Ms Bianca Brunetti who was on leave during Term 1.

There are several new staff who join us this term in various capacities – Mr Sam Fisher (Terry Bower), Mrs Cath Gooley (Marie Allen), Mrs Judy Ariotti (Andrew Ball), Mrs Susie Cooper (Mary Meadows), Mr Alex Berry (Anthony Hayward), Mrs Sue Henry (Janine Sulzer), Mr Andrew King (Waterford/Phil Elvery), Mrs Jayne O’Connell (LE), Mr Liam Hearne and Ms Maia Calci (Art). I also want to acknowledge some staff who will be assuming Acting Middle Leadership roles during the term, Mrs Mary Cassidy (Japanese Coordinator), Mrs Jamie Newnham (HOF Science), Mr Anthony Baruksopulo (Windsor House Dean) and Mr Peter Finch (Physics Coordinator).

Over the holiday break many staff, parents, coaches and students were involved in a range of activities, including tours, training clinics, rehearsals and competitions. I congratulate all involved in these activities and am confident that the work done over the holidays will provide the results in the upcoming season or performances.

Term 2 is another busy and full term and it is important that all students focus on their studies from Day 1. Term 1 reports were emailed to families in the first week of the holidays and Parent/Teacher meetings are scheduled in the upcoming weeks. Many students worked hard in Term 1 and were rewarded with good results. There were some that did not work as hard as is expected, so it will be important for all students to reassess their study program and prioritise time for homework and study. Like most things in life, academic success only happens with hard work and a strong partnership between teachers, parents and students. As a school community, I encourage all to strengthen this partnership.

This weekend sees the commencement of the Term 2 GPS season with Football and Tennis. There are again large numbers of students involved in both programs and I wish all players the very best in the upcoming season. At this week’s Spirit Assembly, I urged the students to ‘play hard’, be competitive but always display the highest levels of sportsmanship and respect on the field or court. Terrace Sport must have a reputation of competitiveness and sportsmanship if it is to succeed.

Over the holidays some works were carried out in the Campbell Centre to further improve the acoustics of the centre. My thanks to Mrs Gillian Adams for her work and support in actioning this development. At our assembly on Tuesday the sound was notably enhanced. In fact, when on stage, I could hear people speaking! Thank you to Gillian and also to Tony Macksey and Kurt Gentner for their design and installation work.

In keeping with the building theme, progress on the Mt Sion/Duhig Place project is continuing and we will hopefully go to tender in early May with work commencing by June/July. As more detailed information becomes available I will keep you informed via the Terrace News.

Finally, this week, I will put on my ‘Parking Inspector” and ‘Policeman’ hats and request parents to exercise care and attention when driving around the streets near school. Please follow the traffic rules, avoid double parking and ‘U’ turns in Rodgers Street and be aware that nearly 1600 students exit the College at 3.05pm each day. Similarly, I ask that you remind your sons about the need to cross roads safely when travelling to and from school. This was a source of major concern towards the end of last term and I ask for your support on this issue. Staff will be closely monitoring this during Term 2.

Have a great week.

God Bless.

Dr Michael Carroll

College Principal.