Principal's Pen
That’s a Wrap
It has now been seven years since my family and I were welcomed into the OLSCC community. At that time, 32 students were preparing for Prep in 2018, with my son being one of them. Last week I was thrilled to attend his year level’s graduation from Year 6. It was a wonderful event organised by families, for families, to celebrate this great milestone. Thank you to everyone who supported this event with generosity, time and general assistance to ensure our Year 6 cohort had a memorable evening.
And now, seven years later, we are preparing for 73 preppies to start their journey in faith and knowledge at OLSCC in 2025. Like each of our students enrolled for 2025 classes, they had an awesome time Wednesday at Up Day learning the routines, rituals and ways of working that will help them succeed next year. Up Day is a significant part of the transition each and every year from Kindy to post-year 12 pathways at OLSCC, and a critical component to students ongoing success as they progress through their 13 years of schooling. It was so special to see students arrive full of nerves and anxiety, and leave with their questions answered, an understanding of what is to come, and some great new friends as well. This is the best day for student wellbeing on the calendar – real wellbeing – it’s all about letting students experience the future and reducing the anxiety in the 5 weeks over the holidays.
As the year rounds out for 2024, I wish all of our community a hope-filled and Merry Christmas. It is at this time that we remember how the birth of Jesus brought eternal hope to our world, and provided us with the salvation that we need to guide us every day. Although much has changed since Jesus’s time, one thing always remains, the need for wisdom, justice and humanity in our ever-turbulent world. Do your bit this Christmas and lend a hand, judge less, sacrifice a luxury for the benefit of someone in need, and don’t be afraid to remind yourself how important you are in making positive, selfless contributions to the world – in whatever field you are able. Enjoy some family time together, be good to your siblings, eat plenty of treats and I hope Santa finds all the children for Christmas.
2025 Beginnings
We are expecting 694 students at OLSCC for the commencement of the 2025 academic year as the College continues to grow. Our class lists are locked in, our teachers are all confirmed, and we are well organised after Up Day for our students to hit the ground running on Wednesday 29 January 2025. For everyone to be best prepared for the new school year, we have ensured that you have all the information available that you need. Many specific items have already been sent home via Sentral for Parents (aka Parent Portal), a term date/pupil free day/holiday calendar is included in this newsletter as well as a major event planner, the website has booklists, College fees, and this newsletter is jam packed with plenty more information for the new year including uniform shop hours and much more.
As you prepare for 2025, please refer to this newsletter, the website and parent portal, and keep your eyes on Facebook and parent portal for any updates in January.
2025 OLSCC Staff Roster
Attached below is the full staff roster for OLSCC in 2025, with only a few places left to fill. Our timetables are complete and have been emailed to students this week in preparation for next year. As always there may be minor changes to room allocations etc in the new year, so we encourage students to check the accuracy on their timetable in Sentral when they begin the 2025 year. I would like to acknowledge the wonderful work of the staff involved for continuing to provide both staffing and timetables in advance for our community. This is far beyond the common practice of schools distributing timetables, teachers, classlists and booklists during the holidays, and it is wonderful timely information like this that sets OLSCC apart from the norm.
Excitedly, we welcome to the staff for 2025:
- Mr Brad Kilgour – Grounds
- Miss Brooke Heness – Learning Support Teacher
- Miss Sophie Maudsley – Year 3 (3M)
- Ms Vicki Knight – Secondary Visual Art
- Mrs Sara-Jayne Rogers – Middle Leader Curriculum: English and Humanities
Also very exciting is the new offering of languages in 2025 for Years 3-8. Students in these year levels will finally have access to learning language again, and for 2025 we are starting with Spanish, with a Latino (South American) focus in culture. More details will be shared in the newsletter, though this is a very exciting opportunity that we hope to see grow all the way through the senior years.
Sadly, we have had Mrs Debbie Harwood resign to move back to the coast. We thank Debbie for her amazing work at the College – she will be dearly missed!! Our College will forever be better for having you here.
Call Out for Accommodation
We have quite a few staff who are moving to town over the coming month or so, and the real estate market is quite tight at present. If any of our families are looking for some fantastic tenants for their properties for 2025, please let the College Office know and we can arrange a mutually beneficial relationship. We are looking for apartments, duplexes, single accommodation and larger houses, so please let us know on behalf of your friends also.
2024 OLSCC Masterplan
Our College is growing, the needs of modern education continue to evolve, and some of our more traditional buildings need some rejuvenation or replacement so we can continue to offer a quality education at OLSCC. Accordingly, throughout 2024 we have developed a conceptual Master Plan to address these needs. Much has been considered in this development, including enrolments, current facilities, Block Grant Authority (BGA) funding requirements, as well as play spaces, sporting facilities and integrating into the local landscape. I am very proud of the Master Plan developed by Bold Architecture and Interior Design and know that its implementation will make a big difference for learning and wellbeing at our College.
Last week our architect, Stewart Bagley, dropped in for a site visit to begin discussions regarding the needs of the first phase of the Master Plan, which will be the new early years classrooms and multipurpose rooms. These are necessary to accommodate the ever-increasing enrolment in the 3 streams across the early years, as well as accommodate this growth all the way through the Middle Years to Year 8. Stewart will return in February with sketch designs and we will begin developing the detailed design with the intent of beginning construction in late 2025.
This construction will see the growth in the early years and middle years catered for and accordingly, future developments will focus on renewing many aspects of the Senior Years. It is anticipated that these stages will be significant, costly, though also timely for the continuation of the large cohorts coming through the early years. There are already some exciting concepts for the senior years – specifically in creating connected, contemporary, accessible and carefully designed learning spaces to replace Red and White block.
Please see the attached concepts for both the early years and elements of the senior years as a taste of what is to come.
Peter Cuskelly
Principal