Principal’s Message | Dr Michael Carroll

In 2019 the new Senior Curriculum pathway (ATAR) will be introduced into Queensland schools, replacing the current OP system.

Dear Members of the Terrace Family,

With the commencement of August some hallmarks of Brisbane including the EKKA and the winter westerlies are nearly upon us.

At this week’s College Assembly I had the opportunity to thank and farewell Mrs Evelyn Looney, College Book Hire Coordinator. Evelyn has been a member of the Terrace staff for 25 years. Her contribution to Terrace has been significant, in particular the care and the attention she has devoted to providing our young men with the textbooks and novels they require for their studies over those 25 years. On behalf of all within the Terrace community, both past and present, I thank Evelyn and wish her all the very best with her journey beyond Terrace.

Continuing on with staff news, we also farewelled Miss Georgia Power from the Sports Office. I thank Georgia for her contribution to Terrace Sport and wish her all the best for the next stage of her career journey. With the departure of Evelyn and Georgia the following appointments have been made:

Book Hire Coordinator: Ms Ellyse Mackenroth

Sports Assistant: Mrs Cerene Hughes

In 2019 the new Senior Curriculum pathway (ATAR) will be introduced into Queensland schools, replacing the current OP system. The current Year 9 students will be the first year group to graduate with an ATAR in 2020. On Tuesday, an Information Evening was held for parents of students in Years 7, 8, and 9. Over 700 people attended this important meeting and listened to Mrs Julie Quinn outline the new program, compare it to the current OP system and outline the key decisions that Terrace has made in preparing for this new Senior Schooling program. Whilst much information was given on the night, I have summarised below some of the key initiatives that Terrace is doing to best prepare our students for this new system:

  • Year 10 students will remain at Waterford.
  • Year 10 Immersion will be held in Term 2.
  • Senior School Subject Selection will occur in Term 2 of Year 10.
  • The teaching of Senior School subjects will begin in Semester 2 of Year 10.
  • Students will study six (6) subjects.
  • Compulsory Senior School subjects will be at least one stream of Mathematics, at least one stream of English and Study of Religion (SOR).
  • Study of Religion (SOR) will be introduced into the curriculum and replace Religion and Ethics (RE).
  • Three (3) levels of Mathematics will be available – General Mathematics, Mathematics Methods and Specialist Mathematics.
  • Potentially, three (3) levels of English will be available – English, Literature and Literature Extension.
  • There may be the addition of some other subjects into the Senior School Curriculum. Exact subject offerings are still to be finalised. However, it is envisaged that the curriculum offerings will be similar to what is currently offered.
  • All subjects will consist of three (3) pieces of internal assessment and one (1) piece of external assessment.
  • All internal assessment needs to be endorsed by the QCAA and results later confirmed.
  • For all Maths and Science subjects, the external assessment exam will be worth 50% of the total mark. For all other subjects, the external assessment will be worth 25% of the total marks.
  • It is likely that external exams for Year 12 will be held in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 of Term 4.
  • The teaching of Year 12 work will finish sometime in Term 3 of Year 12 and an external exam preparation program will commence - this is significantly earlier than what currently occurs. This timing may vary with individual subjects.
  • It is envisaged that the end of Year 12 processes such as Graduation, Farewell Assembly etc. will occur in Week 7 of Term 4.
  • There may be changes to the student leadership program and the GPS sporting program; however, details are still to be finalised.

The College will continue to develop an ATAR program and will communicate key aspects to the College community. My thanks to Mrs Julie Quinn, the Heads of Faculty, the members of the Senior Schooling Committee and the College Leadership Team for their work in this area thus far.

Tomorrow night the Year 12 Drama class will be presenting their performances as part of the Winterfest program. I congratulate all involved in this production.

Finally, this week, I wish to highlight some outstanding student performances that have been recorded in recent weeks. Firstly, I would like to congratulate the following young men on their appointments for Track and Field:

Captain: Oscar Sullivan

Vice Captain: Nick Yem

Secondly, at College Assembly this week we acknowledged and congratulated Nick Erzetic, Captain of Cross-Country, for winning the GPS Open Race earlier this year. The ringing of the “Champion’s Bell” was part of Nick’s acknowledgement. Well done Nick.

Also, at College Assembly this week we acknowledged two young men for their outstanding success at International level. Guowen Zhang (Year 11) was selected to compete in the Mathematics Olympiad in Brazil. Guowen was awarded the Silver Medal for Australia in this event. This is an extraordinary effort, particularly considering that Guowen is only 15 years old and will be eligible for the team again next year. Well done Guowen.

Finally, we had the opportunity to acknowledge Oscar Sullivan (Year 12) who recently competed in the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas. Oscar competed in the Javelin event and won a Bronze medal with a throw of 66.92m. This is also an extraordinary effort. Oscar will lead the Terrace Track and Field team in 2017. Well done Oscar.

Have a great week.

God Bless,


Dr Michael Carroll

College Principal