Here we are half way through Term 3 already, with many of us perhaps looking forward to the prospect of some warmer, drier weather to follow what seems to have been an unusually cold, wet and windy winter.

We recently welcomed Adelle Brown to the Secondary Arts Department. Adelle is teaching Music in Lower Secondary.

We have also welcomed a number of new families to the College, with 26 new students joining us so far this term. Our enrolments staff have been busy fulfilling requests to ‘visit us’ for a College tour, and then to find immediate places, and our staff and students have embraced every opportunity to engage with prospective families, and to showcase and share what they love about our community.

You will all have completed, or been aware of the Australian Government Census on 10 August. The College is also required to complete the census, reporting our student numbers as at the census date, and this determines the calculation for our Federal Funding. The College 2020 Performance Report will soon be placed on the College website. I encourage families to consider this report and to view the results of the College Survey.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all families who are affected by the impact of COVID-19, particularly those with family/friends who are overseas, as well as those interstate in Australia. We continue to be vigilant in our efforts within WA to keep our communities safe; however, you have our assurance that our staff are well-prepared and we have plans in place to continue providing learning for our students in the case of any further lockdowns in WA.

Early in the term, our Primary students braved the weather to walk to their swimming lessons at the Arena. Our staff complemented all the children on their smiles and positivity, despite the often wet and blustery conditions. Our Primary students and staff have also enjoyed one of their favourite times of the year this week, participating in Book Week celebrations, including dressing up as their favourite characters and embracing the theme Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.

Languages Week provided opportunities for Secondary students to embrace more of the culture of the languages they are learning, with practical and participatory events planned throughout the week. Our IT team also embraced the week with a change to our regular ‘musical’ lesson sirens which required us to attempt to ‘interpret’ the lyrics! Primary students have their Languages week to look forward to in Week 7.

National Science Week is always enjoyed across the College as we celebrate science and technology. Students in Primary celebrated this in Week 3 and students in Secondary school during Week 5. The theme this year was Food: Different by Design highlighting the Sustainable Development Goals. The focus in the Science building on alternative food sources was fascinating, while in primary, a number of investigations took place including a series of experiments to find “which colour mug makes hot chocolate taste the best”.

Secondary Inter House Athletics pre-events were on, then off, then on again with the inclement weather influencing the decision to go ahead or postpone. Eventually, between showers, we managed to complete all the pre-events in preparation for today’s carnival. Primary students will complete their pre-carnival events in Week 7 and are looking forward to their carnival later in the term.

At a recent Primary Assembly, students, staff and families were excited to hear from Michael and Christine Mesiti who founded House of Hope - Africa, located in Zambia. This charity was brought to our attention by former Head Boy James Butler (2014) who had visited Zambia himself. The Primary school began supporting this organisation 7 years ago with a sausage sizzle, and now organises an annual lap-a-thon, which has raised over $10,000. This year’s lap-a-thon will take place on 31 August.

Student leaders are important in our College, and the selection process for the 2022 Secondary Student Council included interviews, speeches from the prospective Head Boys and Head Girls, and student and staff voting. Each year, students are encouraged to nominate, be nominated, and take on the opportunity to provide leadership to and represent their peers, and to support staff at Inter House and other College events.

The 2022 College Production, High School Musical, has finally been announced amidst much excitement and anticipation. Auditions for students currently in Years 6-11 will begin next week.

Mid Term Break

A reminder to all families that the College will be closed on Monday 23 August for our annual mid-term break. This is an opportunity for staff and students to take an extra day to refresh and prepare for the remainder of the term, and a great opportunity for an extended weekend. For families with children also at other schools, please be aware that this is an LJBC break.

Once again, we encourage you to keep the College Calendar close by – it provides a snapshot of the rich and varied activities that our passionate staff organise and create for your children to participate in. We have also published our term dates for 2022 on the College website.

1 Peter 3:8 …be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.

God Bless

Paul Sonneman-Smith

College Principal