Dean of Students | Mr Damien Fall

Welcome to the new term.  I hope that the holidays were a time for families to rest and refresh; simply removing the routines of uniforms, lunches and the morning rush can be a nice break for parents and caregivers.  Over the holidays, I had the privilege of joining the Terrace Japan tour with 21 of our students and I was struck by the values of the people of Japan – respect, manners, honesty and care for others are clearly part of their culture.  Often, watching the way that others behave can help us to learn how we can be our best.  A great positive of a Terrace education is that boys are surrounded by high quality young men and can benefit from their influence.  When the majority are aligned to a common set of values, our culture grows.  In the first week of term, each year level has attended an assembly at which the College Leadership Team has discussed the importance of starting the term well and consistently doing the little things that lead to success.  We will continue to push these important messages as the term progresses.

This Friday, Mr Paul Dillon from DARTA will speak with students from Years 10, 11 and 12 about the important topic of drugs and alcohol, specifically with respect to their usage by young men.  Paul’s sequential, year-level specific presentations are backed by recent research and statistics and they give our young men sound advice about decisions they may need to make at some stage.  The link to Paul’s website is below:
http://darta.net.au/
Paul is known nationally as the premier source of wisdom about this topic and we view his presentations as an important part of our Formation program.

This Saturday sees the commencement of our Term 2 co-curricular program.  We are expecting a strong show of support for the 1st XI Football team, kicking off at Tennyson at 2pm.  Any student wishing to spectate at this match is required to be dressed in his regular academic uniform (white shirts not required, except for Year 12 students) and seated in the grandstand.  This includes those who have already played – they are required to change back into school uniform at the conclusion of their match.  We are promoting this week’s match as a ‘Buddy Round’, specifically targeting students from Years 5, 7 and 12 to come along and support together.  As always, students have heard about the importance of providing positive support for our players and not directing any negativity towards the opposition.  Best of luck to everyone who is representing Terrace in any way during Term 2.

Next Monday 23 April, we hold our annual Inter-House Cross Country carnival.  Students are asked to wear their House shirt and PE uniform to school on this occasion.  We look forward to all students being present, participating enthusiastically and in the true spirit of the day.  

Finally, with the weather beginning to get a little cooler, we are getting closer to commencing the compulsory winter uniform; this will start on Tuesday, 8 May, following the Labour Day long weekend.  From this day, students will be required to wear their blazer to and from school every day and keep the blazer on in the morning until the 8.25am bell.  Long trousers will be compulsory for students in Years 11 and 12 and optional for all other year levels.  I ask that, over the next two weeks, parents/caregivers take the opportunity to prepare their sons’ winter uniform in readiness for 8 May.