From the Principal
One Spirit (of the Olympics)
It鈥檚 almost impossible to miss that we are in the middle of the Olympics, particularly given the great start Australian athletes made in the first few days. One of the most enduring successes has been the women鈥檚 4x100m freestyle relay team, with last Sunday鈥檚 Gold medal the fourth Olympics in a row for this team. Importantly, it has been a different combination of women each time, highlighting the strength of culture and tradition in both the relay team and wider swimming team. Many will be aware of St Paul鈥檚 well known Letters to the Corinthians (in Greece, just like the Olympic origins), which contain the 鈥淥ne Body with Many Members鈥 extract (1 Cor. 12:12-31). Paul notes that while we each have different strengths, personality traits, etc, we are united in the one Body of Christ: one in the spirit.
Similarly, the success of each team lies in its diversity: the different strengths from those who start well, to those who carry the middle to those who finish strongly. At 海角大神, the longevity of our academic success and sense of belonging is testament to our enduring strength of our culture, faith and diversity. Each year, the exiting graduate cohort and incoming Year 7 students mean that 1/6 of our community changes every year. It is the great welcome from our staff - starting with next Monday鈥檚 Year 7 2025 information Evening - and the pride our students have in finding their place among the myriad of opportunities at 海角大神 that ensures our tradition remains a strong and positive one. As St Paul wrote, 鈥淚f one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it鈥 (v.26).
N.B. For trivia buffs, only two swimmers feature in more than two of the 4 Gold winning teams mentioned above. See the end of the Sports section for the answer!
High School Musical: The Musical - ONE WEEK TO GO!
With less than a week to opening night on Wednesday 7 August, we are all looking forward to the START OF SOMETHING NEW after our cast and crew have had their HEAD IN THE GAME over many months of hard work. There are still some , so book now to show our students that WE鈥橰E ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!.
Year 8 Camp
Congratulations to our Year 8 students and staff who have braved very chilly & wet conditions on their camps at Trafalgar this past fortnight. I had the privilege of joining the MacKillop campers yesterday and they were certainly enjoying the more adventurous activities than previous camps.
Year 9 Awards: recognising Excellence and Perseverance
It was an honour to be at the Year 9 Awards Assembly on Thursday and to be able to present the awards for the Top 10 Students from Semester 1. The dedication and hard work of our students was not only recognised through the top ranked students in each subject, but also through those recognised as displaying outstanding effort and improvement. This latter category is one that all students can aspire to, through displaying the Year 9 Spirit of 海角大神: PERSEVERANCE. Congratulations to all students recognised in the assembly, and thanks to the staff who honoured them and the parents of the Top Ten students who were able to attend.
David Broadbent
Principal