End of term
As the term draws to a close, I would like to wish all our families well for the break ahead. I hope that everyone has the opportunity for some rest and relaxation during this time and will look forward to seeing everyone next term.
Strategic Plan Launch
Thank you to everyone who attended this week's launch of our new Strategic Plan. The Plan has been put together over the last 18 months and will guide us through to the end of 2024.
At the launch, Council Chair Richard Hockney and I spoke about the formulation and components of the Plan. Richard pointed out that 800 members of our community had had input into this process, through the survey, focus groups and workshops that took place, convened by external facilitators Kathy Carruthers and Jane Jeffreys. We are very grateful to Kathy and Jane for the excellent work in guiding us through this process.
Around 60 members of our community attended the launch event and there was some excellent discussion about the contents of the Plan, which can be found here.
The plan is aspirational and covers key directions that emerged through the consultation process, including diversity and inclusiveness, community service and engagement, and leadership in sustainability. It also maintains our focus areas from our previous plan in relation to academic expectations and leadership in boys’ education.
The College Executive has been working on the implementation plan for the Strategic Plan and we will provide regular updates to our community about our progress with this.
Our Princes Men Gallery Induction
In the second last week of term, we welcomed Old Scholar Keith McBride to Secondary School Assembly to be inducted into Our Princes Men Gallery. It is our practice to honour in this way Old Scholars who have achieved distinction in their respective fields. On this occasion, we were very pleased to recognise an Old Scholar who has achieved distinction in the agricultural area.
As well as being a successful farmer in his own right, Keith has served on the board of the family pastoral company, AJ and PA McBride, and has been Chair of the board for the last 15 years. AJ and PA McBride is one of Australia's leading pastoral companies, with properties totalling 1.4 million hectares and being in the top four wool producers in Australia.
The McBride family has seen six generations of boys attend Prince Alfred College. The McBride Room in the RED Centre is named after Keith's namesake, who was killed in World War II, and the McBride Wing within our boarding facility is named after generous PAC benefactor, the late Peter McBride.
Keith gave an excellent address, providing some very positive messages for our students and what they should consider in pursuing their pathways. We were very pleased that a number of Keith's family members and friends were able to join us for this special occasion.
Staffing
The end of this term sees the conclusion of Phil McLaughlin’s 36 ½ years on the staff of Prince Alfred College, making Phil our current longest-serving staff member and one of the longer serving staff in the College’s history. Phil was recognised at the final Secondary School assembly for the term, which was also attended by a number of Phil’s family, friends and former colleagues, including past Headmasters Mr Geoffrey Bean and Dr Brian Webber. Phil's retirement is an historic occasion, as he is the last staff member appointed by Headmaster Geoffrey Bean to be still on the staff. Phil has given great service to the College over many years as a teacher of Technology and a leader in the academic, pastoral and co-curricular areas. The assembly provided a fitting tribute to his many years of outstanding service.
While Monica Magann is on long service leave during third term, Dr Sara Browning will take over Careers responsibilities for the duration of the term. We wish Sara well in this role and thank her for taking on this additional responsibility.
Preparatory School Library Assistant Jan Buchanan will finish up with us at the end of this term. I would like to knowledge Jan's fine work in the Preparatory School Library over the last 16 years. Jan is a popular and valued member of our staff and we wish her well in retirement.
Nick Iadanza and George Gardner were appointed for one year in the first instance to lead the English and Humanities faculties respectively. Following a thorough review of their performance so far, I am delighted to confirm both these gentlemen in their respective positions. They have led their faculties extremely effectively so far and will now continue for the standard five year tenure in the first instance.
Hayley Ewer will be Acting Director of OSHC from mid-July to late August and Angelika Bailey will be Acting Assistant Director for that period.
‘Bilsy Round’
Last Saturday’s schools sporting fixtures saw a celebration of “Bilsy Round” and fundraising for the Wings For Life charity. This is the charity that supports spinal research and had been nominated by former student Jake Bilsborow as his preferred charity.
We were delighted to see Jake and members of his family at the 1st XVIII football game against Pembroke, where Jake was able to mix with a number of his schoolmates and other PAC supporters. Jake also spoke superbly at the after-match event, attended by PAC and Pembroke 1st XVIIIs, together with families, friends and supporters.
Well done to College prefects, Rory O’Callaghan and Finn Walsh, who led the organisation for this event and thank you to everyone who supported this event in different ways.
Narragunnawali Awards
We were recently nominated for the Narragunnawali Awards for this year, which look at reconciliation programs in schools. We were delighted to learn that we were placed on the long list for these awards, resulting in my being interviewed to see if we progress to the next round.
We are very conscious of being a work in progress in this regard, but we are also pleased to see the developments that we have made in recent ways in embracing Aboriginal culture, as well as growing our Aboriginal students program. I would like to acknowledge the excellent leadership that departing senior staff member Darren Roylett has provided in this area, and also Aboriginal Students Coordinator Monica Magann for her good work. At the same time, they have been well supported by many other staff and students in a number of key initiatives.
Dogs on campus
On recent weekends, we have seen a number of members of our community bring dogs onto the campus. Please note that dogs are not allowed on campus and there are signs at the entrances to the school advising of this. This is a standard provision at schools and we seek your support with this.
Bradley Fenner
Headmaster