Country To Coast Sapphire Coast Anglican College | Newsletter

Deputy Principal's Address

The Importance of School Attendance

It has been great to welcome students back to school to start Term 1 refreshed from summer holidays and hopefully excited for the opportunities the new school year presents. Regular school attendance is important for student learning, social connection and developing a sense of belonging. Often, as the year progresses, there can be several reasons that students might miss school – being sick, having unavoidable medical appointments, or attending exceptional or urgent family circumstances such as a funeral. It is important that when students are away, parents notify the College that they are away with a reason for the absence so that accurate records can be kept. This can be managed through Audiri. If a notification hasn’t been given, the parent of the child will be sent an SMS message notifying them of the absence and requesting a reason. As school attendance is compulsory, it is important to form good habits early in the year. These might include getting plenty of sleep and having bags packed and uniforms set out the night before. Staff at the College regularly monitor the attendance of students to identify patterns of attendance that may become cause for concern. School attendance is considered to be problematic when a student has missed 10% or more of the school year. Where there are regular or extended absences due to illness, the College may also request medical certificates before marking the attendance as an ‘explained absence’. At times, it might be partial absences, such as late arrivals that are identified, as each partial absence, when added together, can have a significant impact on student learning. If your child is experiencing difficulties getting to school each day, please feel free to contact the class teacher, crew teacher or Head of Year to discuss how we can support you and your child in improving their attendance.

Leave During Term Time

Parents are encouraged to use school holiday periods for extended travel rather than taking children during term time. However, if your child is going to have more than two days away during term, an Application for Extended Leave form should be completed and submitted to the Principal in advance of the leave period. This will allow for arrangements to be made regarding any assessment or exam periods that might happen during the time away. The Principal will consider the application and provide an Attendance Exemption Certificate. If you require an Application for Extended Leave form, please contact reception for a copy.

Jay Trevaskis Deputy Principal

Good evening, everyone; students, staff, parents and extended family from the Sapphire Coast Anglican College community, distinguished guests all. We are blessed by the presence of the Rev. Dr Mark Short, Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Dr Jill Ireland, Chair of the College Board and Board member, and Cathie Haynes, former Head of the College’s Southern Campus. This evening is all about students, teachers, support staff and the family networks that have yielded success; everyone here has played a part in what we are about to celebrate. Our College is now 31 years old, and I wonder how many more years will roll by before Miss Matsuoka regrets ever confiding in me that she shares her birth year with our beloved school? Oh, to be 31 again, Hana. It is my privilege to welcome you all here. Thank you sincerely for all you do and have done to create a wonderfully memorable and successful 2025, and review just a few of the hundreds of highlights that will be memories cherished for a lifetime, for many. To say 2025 started with a BANG would be an understatement, as on the afternoon of the 10th of January, a massive lightning strike on D Block proved beyond doubt that Year 3-6 is, or was, the highest voltage learning environment at the College this year. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, although one of our maintenance staff was only metres away. Over the following weeks and months, the damage was revealed, and the repair bill currently stands at a little under $100,000. There were, if you’ll forgive the electrical pun, some very positive additions to our beautiful campus over the summer holidays, though, with two music practice pods arriving on trucks from Melbourne and a bright blue, very sporty surface miraculously being laid out on our outdoor courts. But perhaps most significantly for the College’s development, the holidays delivered a wonderful pre-Christmas present, as the Class of 2024 achieved the best overall HSC results for many a year, with virtually every candidate meeting or exceeding our very ambitious expectations of them. The College’s Vision statement, ‘to be a caring, dynamic and leading educational community in the Bega Valley and beyond’ was certainly fulfilled in the academic sense. Indeed, students from two subject areas proved themselves to be amongst the very best in the state. What a joy for a teacher from the Bega Valley to show a group of our students the fruits of the labour of a 2024 graduate, on display in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, in Sydney, in Term 1. Prefects and College Captains were once again commissioned as Term 1 commenced, and our federal MP completed a ‘threepeat’ as her third consecutive keynote appearance at the event. A similar feat had been forecast for the American Football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the Super Bowl later that week, but unlike Kristy McBain, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and his Chiefs teammates failed to make it three in a row. As summer drifted on, hardly ever really becoming warm enough to leave one’s College jacket or fleece at home, our weekly Canteen service, under new management, but with even greater popularity and appreciation, hit its straps. We all love the offerings a group of enthusiastic and super-efficient caterers creates for us every week. Our Hospitality room is a place of such community and congeniality, not least every Friday morning at Breakfast Club, when I find an Uber Eats operative delivers a slice of heavily buttered fruit toast to my desk as I prepare for the working day ahead. It wouldn’t be SCAC without horsey business, and Cobargo Show highlighted what a range of talent we have in the equestrian arena. Term 1 also marked the beginning of an ongoing association between our very youngest students and the wonderful, slightly older residents of the Hugh Cunningham Gardens Residential Care Home. On three quite different occasions, our lively little ones, ably herded by even more energetic staff, have brought pure joy to the lives of those who don’t spend as much time with children as they would like. And the joy is totally reciprocated, with cards and gifts lovingly crafted by our youngsters being delivered at each gathering. 2025 was another busy year for mountain biking with impressive showings in competitions all around the region and our own, challenging track being, if I might steal a line from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the envy of all we survey. Other sporting successes included several SASSA representatives from Touch Football fixtures, as we continue to punch above our weight against schools at least twice our size. A more reflective and very meaningful student experience was created in Community and Family Studies as The Big Issue Classroom brought the harsh realities of living without a permanent, safe and welcoming home to the consciousness of our students. We all have so much to be thankful for, particularly at this time of year. The traditional Primary School Easter Hat Parade and Easter Service were held at St John’s Anglican Church here in Bega, with a congregation and ‘others’ that included an ABC News reporter and NSW Police Officers……the arrival of a very sleek Highway Patrol attracted the attention of many, not least because it was parked in, and blocked off, the zone we had specially reserved for the school buses! A parent even turned out to be a dab hand at bell ringing on a beautiful, sun-drenched morning. Over 400 attendees enjoyed the colour of the occasion and shared in the power of the Easter message. No sooner had the Primary students returned to the campus than the inaugural Colour Fun Run began, several hours of wet, messy and very effective fund-raising fun; only possible thanks to the generosity of dozens of P and F volunteers. As Term 2 began, our annual Year 10 Sydney Camp continued to be one of the flagships of the College’s extensive excursion program, but, significantly, this was to be the last time our Year 10 could be accommodated in the lovely setting of the Golden Grove Retreat in Newtown, as beginning in 2026, Year 10 cohorts typically around 35 students for many years, will be replaced by around 60. It speaks volumes for the richness of life at the College that having a rather short, but very animated man with a massive beard suddenly pop up from behind our compost heap has become delightfully normal, and the volume of our truly remarkable Music Department was cranked another notch higher with the arrival of a small band’s worth of trumpets and trombones, incredibly made of green plastic yet sounding very brassy and authentic – another of the many gifts of 2025 from our Parents and Friends Association – more of them later. Year 8s made gorgeous soft toy animals in Textiles, destined to be treasured and taken home; the visit of Bega Group representatives highlighted the crucial role the dairy industry plays in our economy and our Paddock to Plate program, a real rarity in schools now, continued to enhance awareness of how pastoral farming actually works, in ‘real life’, and how cool that we also now have a very popular Cattle Show team. There were many notable moments for our sporting superstars in the second term, perhaps the limelight being stolen by our victorious Senior Girls Rugby 7s squad, Open Boys’ Soccer team, and the fact that we had the captain of the NSW Under 15s boys rugby league team in our midst. Long hair, when not tied back, is a constant issue for staff to attend to, so imagine our delight when two students, and even a staff member, volunteered to have their lengthy locks shorn in aid of children’s cancer research. One student captured sponsorship to the tune of over $6000 to support this wonderful cause. Another community-spirited Country Fair was a highlight on a warm, late autumn Saturday, with stalls, activities and competitions making a major contribution to the over $15,000 raised by the P and F for all sorts of special school ‘wish list’ items this year. We would simply be lost without our Parents and Friends Association. I must admit to needing to do some investigative Googling when I first read about one of our students winning the ‘Canberra Yellowfin Tuna Competition’….I mean, how likely are you to catch any species of tuna, let alone yellowfin, in Lake Burley Griffin? The ever-reliable Google assured me this competition is confusingly held in Bermagui. The Second Semester saw the best snow conditions in many years for our Year 9 ski camp (and continued success for our expert winter sports students in Interschool competitions), a fabulous Book Week Parade in which prize-winning fancy dress costumes included Doctor Who’s Tardis and a Pirate Ship full of villainous staff. I continue to be slightly puzzled by our ‘Book Week Cake Competition’, but would have been delighted to have been offered a slice of any of those on display in our Library, the wonderful learning and social hub that truly is the heart of the College. Among a myriad other ways in which we have focused on the essential building block of all our learning, that is Literacy, this year, Year 6 persuasive letters have featured some impressive efforts at convincing me we need a ‘therapy pet’ to improve our students’ wellbeing. I hope you’ll share my enjoyment of the irony of three visiting Sydney vets, on campus to check how well we care for all our animals, informing me that, and I quote, ‘Being a therapy dog, surrounded by hundreds of lively, noisy and tactile children every day can actually cause mental health problems, for the dog!’ A superb Trivia Quiz was held by our soon-to-be graduating Year 12s, raising money for their chosen charity in so doing, and, despite the lack of major musical productions in 2025, the creative wonders of Soiree and our inaugural MADD night, at the Twyford Theatre, revealed that there really is no SCAC business quite like SCAC show business. The advent of a pre-school aged activity opportunity, ‘Little Lights’, bringing together our staff, students, some members of the St John’s congregation, and local families with very young children, has been yet another way Anglican school, Anglican church and parish have built closer ties during 2025. We are also very proud to have watched and listened to Kristy McBain reading a passionate and eloquent speech by one of our First Nations students, a College Prefect in 2026, in the New South Wales State Parliament; and, as always, our Young Scientists win major awards at the glitzy ceremony at Sydney’s University of Technology. You know, as someone born in England, I am so pleased there are only 5 Ashes test matches this summer, as it won’t be possible to lose by a greater than 5-0 margin. I was assured by a ’10-pound Pom’ who hosted me for my first few months in Australia, way back in 2009, that I would only know I’d become a proper Aussie when I barracked for the golden wattle versus the red rose. I have to confess, I have still not reached that exalted status. So, how significant and memorable for me, back in September, to be invited into a Year 11 Drama classroom to read a short passage from a play (as the fictional character was English), and the teacher and students wanted to hear how the dialogue would sound when spoken by a native. I did my best, entirely unprepared, to be met with a group of fairly expressionless faces; I almost detected sympathy. The Head of Creative and Performing Arts thanked me and ushered me out of the classroom door. Returning, as I did, to the Library, adjacent to the Drama lesson, I didn’t have long to wait until the teacher asked me to come back in…. With poorly-disguised embarrassment; me stood in front of my former audience, the teacher gave me the verdict, ‘I am sorry, but they don’t think you sound English enough….(and there was worse to come!)… can we ask your wife to do the reading instead of you?’ So, on this night of celebration and affirmation, please consider him, who you have very kindly listened to so attentively, as being well on his way to becoming a proper Australian, at least in terms of my accent. In conclusion, I would like to congratulate all our prize winners this evening, and all those who have helped those recognised to reach ever higher, in every aspect of their learning and character development. Healthy competition is an essential part of reaching our potential, and, as we will see and hear later, we recognise and celebrate not just the highest achievers but also those who have made the greatest strides upwards on their learning expedition, overcoming obstacles and inspiring us all in so doing. The most sincere of ‘Thank yous’ to the College Board, led in her second spell of office by Dr Jill Ireland, also the foundation Board Chair, and ably supported by many highly intelligent and giving souls who freely donate time, expertise and compassion. These people ask for no more reward than being among us tonight, or if unable to attend, hearing of the happenings through Newsletters and subsequent Board meetings. There are many parallels between good parenting and Board membership – that wholehearted investment, providing guidance and wisdom, with no expectation of ever seeing, or even wishing for, financial return. Truly, that altruism is what lies at the foundation for communities like that of Sapphire Coast Anglican College to succeed. Everything we do here is also supported by the Anglican Diocesan Services arm of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. So many critical but unglamorous features of a business in the 21st Century are supplied to us by the ADS, risk, legal, human resources, finance, and, of course, spiritual, always at the end of the phone, seemingly 24/7 in the person of Heather Walsh, the Chief Operating Officer – Education. We are always in their debt. As Term 4 draws to a close, we do need to wish the legend that is Mrs Yvonne Brown a wonderful year of long service leave, and when I say looooong service, it’s nigh on 30 years, and thank, and wish farewell, to Mrs Trina Twyford, who has been a spectacular addition to our Kindergarten program. So, at this celebration of our unique College, let’s now begin to recognise some of the stars of the Sapphire Coast Anglican College firmament. Thank you.

David Proudlove College Principal