Principal's Message | Term 1 Week 8 | Dr Michael Carroll
This week we celebrate the Feast of our College Patron, St Joseph. This special Feast Day will be marked with a full school Liturgy, to be celebrated by Bishop Ken Howell VG on Friday 17 March. It will be an honour to have Bishop Howell with us to lead such a special celebration.
As our College Patron, St Joseph personifies the characteristics of a positive male role model and he remains particularly relevant in our modern world. Joseph was a strong and respectful man, a good father to Jesus and a faithful husband to his wife, Mary. Saint Joseph was a simple craftsman who taught Jesus the value of hard work and he also demonstrated great humility in the unassuming approach he took to his work and to his role of providing for the Holy Family. Our College values of Knowledge, Wisdom and Humility are clearly evident in the life of St Joseph.
Last Saturday the GPS Head of the River was held at Wyaralong Dam. This regatta was the culmination of a long season of preparation and training for the rowers, the coaches and the many Terrace families who support our rowing program. The Terrace rowers performed extremely well with victories by the 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.5 and 10.1 Quad crews and the 11.1 and 11.2 Eight crews. The 10.2 and 10.5 Quad crews and the 11.4 Eight crew finished in second place, while the 9.4, 9.7, 9.8, 10.4 and 10.7 Quad crews and the 11.3 Eight crew all finished third in their races. Our First VIII crew battled bravely and finished a creditable fifth place in the main race. Terrace placed third in the overall points for the O’Connor Cup which was also an excellent result for the College. My congratulations to all rowers, coaches and families on a highly successful season.
This Saturday night the Red & Black Cocktail Party will be held at The Tivoli with nearly 500 people registered to attend. It will be the first full College social event held for a number of years and I offer my thanks, in advance, to the organising committee and their many helpers who have worked so hard to ensure that the night will be a huge success. With the restrictions of COVID now behind us, the Cocktail Party will provide the perfect opportunity for the Terrace Family to gather together and celebrate all that is so special about our College community. I look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday night at what will be the first of several Terrace community events planned for 2023.
This week also saw our students in Years 5, 7 and 9 participate in the 2023 NAPLAN tests. As I have mentioned before, this is the first year the testing has been completed online and I was very impressed with how the students approached the process. Our students have been well prepared and I am confident that their results will reflect their hard work.
As well as preparing for the NAPLAN tests, students across all year levels are approaching their Term 1 exams. As always, thorough and consistent revision and preparation is the key to success in exams. Accessing staff tutoring and utilising the checklists and revision programs provided by your son’s teachers will allow all students to achieve their best possible results. I wish our students the very best in their upcoming exams.
Finally this week, I wish to acknowledge the ‘Fight 4 Balance – Mission March Campaign’. The Mission March is an annual initiative that invites the Terrace Family to be involved in promoting disability awareness and inclusion during the month of March and a number of past and current students and families participate in this campaign. I encourage you to visit https://www.fight4balance.org.au/ to learn more about this organisation and how you can become involved in their important work.
Have a great week.
God Bless.
Dr Michael Carroll
College Principal
We pray for the families of the following members of the Terrace Family who have gone to their eternal rest.
Mr J J McLaughlin (GT 1946)
Mr L C Reilly (GT 1957)
Mr G K Mitchell (GT 1977)
Mr J Conley (GT 1959)
Mr L Bell (GT 1943)
Mr J MacMillan (GT 1978)