Mr Scott Thomson
In commencing, I would like to extend a wholehearted thank you to all in the community for helping to make this Term another memorable one for St Joseph’s Nudgee College. The young men of this great school are what makes it great and how they go about fulfilling what they are asked to do; striving to be better each day. For this to happen, it is the collective efforts of families, staff and supporters of the school who work to create an environment in which our students can fulfil their potential. As the age old adage goes, “it takes a village to raise a young person”. The Nudgee village has certainly delivered in Term 2. Again, thank you to all involved and to all families who entrust the care of their son to us.
This Term has seen our young men experience a number of moving formation experiences. Earlier in the term, our Year 12 students took part in the Kairos retreat, the benefits of which continue to resound with our Senior cohort. We also had our Year 9 students participate in the Emmaus retreat, and finally, this week, our Year 10 students experienced the Tabgha program. Each of these are unique and aim to provide an element of faith and formation to our students. I recently cited the EREA Colleges Ltd draft strategic plan and one of the key lines I read was schools should aim to produce students who are “hope-filled and free to build a better world for all”. This is certainly a lofty ambition but a vital one, and one that our Mission and Identity and Student Formation teams strive to achieve.
As we embark on what will be a break for our students, teaching staff and term time staff, I would like to share a number of major capital improvements that will occur during this time. In the Duhig Building that has been situated adjacent to both Ross and Wilkes Ovals since 1919, air conditioning will be installed into the 12 classrooms. As reported earlier in the year, feedback from families, students and staff was consistent that learning and teaching was made more difficult during the hot and humid months without air conditioning. Being a heritage building, the installation has had to ensure that certain requirements were met and that the install will not adversely affect the facade of the beautiful building. This latest improvement is the final part of the phased renewal of Duhig Building with new carpet and painting occurring during Term 2.
Also during the break, there will be a number of preparatory measures taken to accommodate the installation of air conditioning in the 21 Purton Building classrooms. The completion of this will occur in the December/January break so that classes at the start of 2025 will have the option of using air conditioning when conditions dictate it necessary. All of these additions, I am sure, will be greatly appreciated by the community. As an aside, the College has been investigating the addition of solar to ensure both sustainability of the cost incurred with such additions and environmental sustainability.
Next week, our academic staff will be spending a professional development day looking at the way we currently conduct learning and teaching in our middle school years (Years 7 to 9). As part of this collaborative day, staff will use data and feedback (from families and students) to develop questions and actions. It is common for some students in that age bracket to shift their focus and attention from the important task of learning and achieving. We know this by looking at a number of data sets that Nudgee College collects. Our goal is to have students across all year groups equally engaged and enjoying their learning experience. I look forward to reporting back to the community the outcomes that we arrive at next Tuesday.
Finally, I wish those who will be in a position to enjoy some time off over the next couple of weeks all the best. I hope that our boys and staff who will be taking a break enjoy the time away, have a chance to relax and recharge and I look forward to another exciting and fulfilling term.
Kind regards
Scott Thomson
