Principal’s Message | Dr Michael Carroll

Tomorrow we celebrate Edmund Rice Day with a Mass at 8.30am. This is a significant day for our College, other Edmund Rice Schools and of course, the Christian Brothers. Over 200 years ago Edmund Rice formed a religious order that was focussed on providing an education to the marginalised young people of Waterford. His legacy continues today with Edmund Rice and Christian Brothers’ schools scattered across the world. Last year I was fortunate enough to travel to India where representatives from Edmund Rice schools across the world gathered to share and celebrate our common story. The Terrace community is an extraordinary community. It is strengthened by the fact that we are part of an even stronger Edmund Rice community across the world. At our Mass on Friday we will welcome a number of Christian Brothers back to Terrace and thank them for their valuable contributions to Terrace over the years. Also, included in our liturgy will be the blessing and official opening of Westcourt.

The last of the series of public holidays occurred on Monday. It was nice to have another day to relax and catch up on jobs at home. However, something quite extraordinary took place on Monday. You will remember that the last two days of Term 1 were cancelled because of Cyclone Debbie. Whilst this enabled the students to have a couple of extra days of holiday, it also meant that a part of the College’s QCS program was cancelled. As a College Leadership Team, we discussed if it was possible to ‘catch-up’ this lost practice session without taking away valuable teaching time or compromising the co-curricular program. Needless to say, there were not many options. With some doubt and a degree of risk, a decision was made to offer the ‘catch up’ session on the Labour Day Public Holiday on Monday 1 May. I had the privilege of witnessing 203 Year 12 students attend school on Monday, in full school uniform and work extraordinarily well on their QCS practice tests. Mrs Julie Quinn led the program by going through the Writing Task, Short Response Item and Multiple Choice papers, highlighting how to approach each paper and allowing the students to practice these skills. The commitment and dedication of the students was extraordinary and highlighted the commitment the Year 12 cohort has displayed so far this year. I also wish to acknowledge and thank the parents for their support. The Terrace community is a special community.

This week the Junior Musical, ‘Shrek’, will be performed on Friday and Saturday. The shows have been sell-outs and I wish all involved all the best. They have been working very hard in their rehearsals and I look forward to seeing the performances. Also, this week sees the official launch of the Football, Tennis and Gymnastic seasons at Tennyson on Saturday night. Finally, this week nearly 40 Year 12 students travel to Maroon for Kairos 3.

Next week the students in Years 5, 7 and 9 will participate in the Naplan Testing Program. The staff and students have been working hard in preparing for these tests. On behalf of all within the Terrace community I wish the students all the best with their Naplan tests next week.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of the staff, who, over the last two Wednesdays, have participated in the Parent/Teacher meetings. It was wonderful to see so many parents across the two days and the powerful partnership that exists between school and home. Thank you to the staff for their dedication and thank you to the parents for your commitment to your son’s education.

Have a great week.

God Bless.

Dr Michael Carroll

College Principal