Principal's Pen
Staffing Arrangements
We are very close to finalising the appointment of new staff members to our team. This has been a difficult process with the current applicant pool, though over the past 2 weeks we have received some excellent candidates and have engaged a rigorous process to ensure the best long term staff are employed for our students. We thank students, staff and parents for their patience during this time, and look forward to welcoming our new staff as soon as they can begin. A note will go home early next week with more precise details once the appointments have been confirmed.
New College Coach
This week we welcomed our new College Coach. Whilst in reality it is simply a bunch of seats with wheels, the value of this coach to our community is much greater. Whilst we have fantastic facilities at our College, the coach enables student access to all facilities that are beyond our capability to install at the College. Being in a location such as ours, we spend considerable dollars on transport to access meaningful learning and extra-curricular experiences. Through analysis we determined that we could provide far more access for around the same total cost per year by making this purchase. The reality is that the expenditure for individual trips will be far cheaper without having an impact on the College budget in other areas.
I would like to acknowledge the proposal from Hannah Patterson last year which outlined the benefits of the coach, and hence the reason that she was the first student both on and off the coach on Monday. Thanks also to all involved in this procurement including Mrs Kuruilaca, Mr Peterson and Mr Kavney, who provided the analysis and procurement of the best fit coach for our College. Both groundsmen also spent a day last holidays test driving and assessing the wide array of vehicles available to best suit our needs. In addition, Father Jim Cronin’s blessing of the bus on Monday was much appreciated, as was the presence of the community. May we be blessed with many safe ventures and much greater learning and engagement through this initiative.
Rugby Success
On Wednesday evening the College continued its engagement in the Darling Downs Super Schools Cup with our first home game against Scots PGC Warwick. The rugby was fantastic, the spirit welcoming and the community support was amazing. Although there is much work behind the scenes to make these opportunities available, it certainly is worth every minute of investment in seeing the life lessons learnt on the paddock. Well done to all and sundry in the organisation of our College in this initiative, especially the parents and the Dalby Wheatmen!
Pete Cuskelly
Principal