Principal's Report
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Improving our Communication
If I had more time I would have written a shorter letter.
Often attributed to Mark Twain, but more likely originating from French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, this witticism captures the challenge of effective communication, apparently a problem for writers even in the 17th Century. Shift forward 350 years and the World Economic Forum estimates that by 2025, the amount of data generated each day will reach 463 exabytes. If, like me, you had not previously heard of an exabyte, it is 1000 petabytes. If that doesnt help, it is enough space to store over 3 billion 4K movies. Clearly, we have far more information coming to us than we could ever hope to digest. How can we help to ensure that the important information does not get lost in the midst of the thousands of voices seeking our attention?
The Aquinas School Advisory Council is playing a lead role in reviewing communication with our community as part of our School Improvement Plan. Of course, the last two and a half years has been dominated by COVID-19 updates and, as reminded by someone keeping score this week, we recently produced our 100th email reporting positive daily cases in 2022. But there is a lot of other information that we need to share with you as well, so that you know how your young person is progressing and what is happening in our busy school.
We know from our analytics that approximately 1200 individuals will open The Lighthouse (congratulations, youre obviously one of them) and you are likely to be on a small mobile device. But we want to know more. We want to re-evaluate all of the means by which you receive communication from the College to better understand what is working for you and what is not. Could you please complete this brief survey to help us identify some trends and to further our discussion on this important topic:
GAT - Student Free Day
The General Achievement Test (GAT) is conducted on Wednesday, September 7 and includes all students currently completing a Year 12 subject. Given the complexity and the number of spaces required to conduct this exam it is a Student Free Day for all students not required for the exam.
Whole School Assembly
I am pleased to report that we will gather for a Whole School Assembly next Tuesday morning given that our COVID-19 numbers have dropped significantly over the last couple of weeks. It will be a great opportunity to share student achievement and celebrate our values as a community. We have sorely missed these whole school events over the last couple of years and look forward to the opportunity to gather as one again. In accordance with the guidelines, we will be encouraging the wearing of masks.
Music Showcase - Karralyka Centre
Aquinas music students have a wonderful opportunity to display their talents on Thursday September 8 at our music showcase at the Karralyka Centre. The show provides another opportunity for our young musical talent to demonstrate their development as musicians. Thanks to Mr Jared Campbell, Music Program Coordinator, and his dedicated team of instrumental teachers for the work they have put in to prepare the students for this performance. Thanks to Ms Trish Thompson for her administrative support in helping to stage this evening. Thanks also to the families who continue to show their enthusiastic support for their young people at these events. I believe there are a few tickets still available:
P&F Trivia Night
Please support the P&F Trivia Night on Saturday September 10 as proceeds will go to the support of those affected by the Lismore floods. Tickets are available here: ...
Aquinas School Advisory Council
The Advisory Council met for our Seminar on Tuesday evening and we were guided through a master planning review by Mr Matt Dwyer from Y2 Architecture. Our next steps are to review the priorities in our existing master plan and determine the highest priority to work towards as our next major capital development.
Subject Selection Expo
Thank you to all families who were able to take up the opportunity to visit the Subject Selection Expo and Information Evening last night. Teachers were on hand to offer advice about the subject offerings on hand for students at Years 9 to 11 and also talk about the varied pathways that students can pursue at the College. I trust that you found the evening valuable in helping to chart a course forward through the wide range of available pathways.
Fathers Day Mass
The next of our community masses is on Tuesday, 6 September in the College Chapel commencing at 7.30pm. The mass will acknowledge Fathers Day and all are welcome. Just to get an understanding of attendance, please if you think you will be joining us.
Darren Atkinson
Principal