18 Sep 2014
Term 3 has been very busy and reveals a wonderful snapshot of all the opportunities on offer here at Georges River College Penshurst Girls Campus.
A highlight of the term, indeed the year, has been the production and premiere of our musical Man of Steel. Students from both GRC Penshurst Girls Campus and Hurstville Boys Campus worked tremendously hard to ensure the musical was a success. Of course, such a production would never be possible without the hard work and dedication of the staff involved. Mrs Bell did an amazing job as Director, supported by Mrs Thomson, Mr Holloway, Mr Morgan and Miss Fox. There was also an incredible amount of work that went on in the background. Mr Belinfante did a tremendous job creating the sets and Mrs Harrison also did a very professional job with the make-up. I know that parents and particularly the students were all grateful for the opportunities that were created for them and the success that we all share in creating such a triumph. Well done to all involved.
Our musical would not have been such a success without the support of the staff and students at Hurstville Boys Campus. Our musical is just one example of why attending Georges River College gives our students opportunities that they would not experience elsewhere. Never has this been more apparent than when Year 10 began their Preliminary Higher School Certificate Subject Selection journey this term. A world of opportunity was presented to our Year 10 students when they began the transition to our Senior Campus at Oatley. Our Year 10 students attended a Subject Selection Information Evening and a Subject Market at Oatley Senior Campus. Oatley Senior Campus is a unique learning environment that was created for our middle school campus students to ensure they are given the best options in the senior school. At Georges River College we offer our senior students over 85 courses, delivered onsite and including Vocational Education and Training (VET) and TAFE courses. We offer the largest and most exciting range of Year 11 and 12 courses in NSW, ensuring our students maximise their post school opportunities. As our students transition to the Senior Campus we know that they are joining a learning community that specialises in the learning and welfare needs of older adolescents.
Here at Georges River College Penshurst Girls Campus we meet the changing social and educational needs of our girls as they grow. Every Year 10 girl has now met with our Careers Advisor, Mrs Royall, to ensure she is picking the correct curriculum pattern in the senior school to meet her own individual needs.
We also had the opportunity to celebrate Education Week this term. The Georges River College Concert Band and Stage Band performed at Rockdale Plaza and Year 10 students Geneviev M. and Sarasvathy W. were given the privileged opportunity to shadow senior Department of Education and Communities executive. Geneviev shadowed Ms Cathy Brennan, Georges River Network Director and Sarasvathy shadowed Ms Veronica Kapsimali, Director, Strathfield Network. Both girls got to experience the everyday working life of a School Director, participating in a video conference to discuss issues that are impacting on education today, as well as visiting a variety of schools and seeing the wonderful work our Primary School students are doing.
Year 8 also had their Subject Selection Evening for their electives for 2015. Students and parents were dazzled by the creative and engaging displays set up by our staff: CAPA; HSIE; PDHPE; the TAS staff and the magic of their 3D printer creating plastic rabbits before our very eyes, to the real life chickens paraded around the floor by Mr MacKenzie in promotion of our Agriculture elective.
Here at school important conversations have already begun about our School Plan for the next three years. As well as conducting focus group discussions with students and staff, I would like to take this opportunity to invite parents and members of our community to a School Planning Forum on Thursday 11 September at 6.00pm in our school Common Room. This will be an opportunity for our school community to discuss their hopes and dreams for our school, and will give myself and school staff a clear direction on what we need to do and where we need to go to meet the needs and expectations of our community. At the very heart of what we do will always be our students and ensuring we achieve the very best outcomes for them, as well as ensure they graduate as confident and responsible global citizens ready to succeed in the 21st Century.
This term we say farewell to Mr Scott MacKenzie, our Head Teacher Science. Mr MacKenzie will be moving to GRC Oatley Senior Campus to continue his excellent work in leading the success of Science across our College. Mr MacKenzie has made a wonderful contribution to our school and will continue to contribute to the success of our College as he takes up his new Head Teacher Science position. Next term we will be joined by Mr Anthony Adams as our new Head Teacher Science. Mr Adams comes to us as an experienced Head Teacher Science from GRC Hurstville Boys Campus. We welcome him to the GRC Penshurst Girls family and look forward to working with him.
At this point I would like to congratulate Georges River College Peakhurst Campus for achieving 50 years of excellence in public education. If you can, I encourage you to attend any of the special events designed to celebrate their anniversary. It is a case of ‘watch this space' for us here at GRC Penshurst Girls Campus, as we too will be celebrating an important anniversary next year (our 60th!), and are already planning events to celebrate and mark such an important milestone in the life of our wonderful school.
Ms Noeline Ross
Principal