St Brendan-Shaw College | St Brendan-Shaw College

Principal's News

Principal's Message 7 December 2020

At the beginning of last week, the Minister of Education announced a change to Term 1 and Term 2 Dates for 2021. Last week I was not in a position to make an announcement on what we would do at SBSC, so I postponed the Newsletter. I can now confirm that we will NOT depart from what we had originally published (as follows):

In coming to my decision::

I have considered what is best for the students (in disruption to learning) and I have determined that:
there is the potential for students to be absent on 21 - 23 April due to pre-booked family commitments, and
Year 7 and 8 students are already booked into camps on 7 to 9 April and new dates may be more disruptive to learning.
I have investigated bus transport issues and have discovered that while Merseylink won't be able to run their contracted routes on 7 to 9 April, they are willing to sit down with us to organise a limited service for our students. We will survey parents early in Term 1 to ascertain need and work from this basis.
I have concluded that families that have students in both the Catholic and Government sectors may have already made holiday bookings based upon what we had advertised and a late change would be more disruptive.

I want to commend the staff who have gone to extraordinary lengths this year to provide as full an experience as possible in a year beset by restrictions. The results have been well received, with the rescheduled Athletic’s Carnival providing a great opportunity to end the year with some fun and celebration. On Friday the Year 9s participated in a “Pilgrimage walk” around the Bluff and beaches, and the Year 10s enjoyed a Picnic day before ending their year, taking home their Reports and Yearbook. Year 7 to 9 students receive their Yearbook and Reports today.

Year 11 and 12s can collect their Yearbooks from the Caritas Reception staff.

This morning we presented Service and Effort awards at a school assembly to which award recipients were able to invite family members. This was in place of the traditional Presentation Evening which we had considered too difficult to manage with the COVID restrictions that we had to comply with.

Tomorrow, Year 7 to 9 students finish their year with the Picnic Day at Ulverstone.

I want to thank the staff who will not be with us in 2021.

Robyn Smith has made a significant positive impact in her short stay with us, however, she has had to make the decision to move away from the region. Her competent, warm and professional manner saw her fit in seamlessly with the College staff and we will miss her dearly.

Van Nguyen is also moving away from Devonport and, recognising how much she loved her profession as a Graphic Designer, is seeking to take a different career pathway.

Sandra Farr is looking to continue her teaching career in a different environment, seeking new challenges to keep her pedagogy fresh and challenging.

Christa Christie, too, is looking for new challenges and has taken a new position away from Devonport. Her work with the Learning Support Team has encouraged us to take the next step in our evolution, and we are advertising for a Learning Enhancement Teacher who will develop, further, the potential that Christa and Leeann Purton have worked to nurture, seeking to enhance learning for all students at the College.

Graeme Brooks (aka “the Prof”) moves into a well-deserved retirement. An excellent teacher, with a wealth of experience and exemplary knowledge of his discipline, his are big shoes to fill. We are blessed to have past students of his to follow his lead, so his legacy will continue.

Finally, after 22 years as a teacher at the College, the majority of them in significant Positions of Leadership, Steve Geale has transferred to one of the Southern Catholic Colleges. Steve has led the development of Teaching and Learning at the College in the first years of the 2000s (having joined the College as a Senior School Coordinator). His creative and lateral thinking saw him create innovations in Timetabling that persist to this day. He was instrumental in moving us into Digital management of College Data and was partly seconded to the Tasmanian Education Office to assist other Catholic schools in the North and North West manage their Data Management systems. A gifted musician, he has been a strong supporter of our College Bands and Productions. However, Steve is primarily a devoted father and it is this that has seen him make the move South.

I can also share that both Maria Windsor and Renee Sushames are taking a year of leave in 2021, so we wish them both well.

This will be the last publication of the College Newsletter this year. I wish everyone a blessed and holy Christmas filled with the promise of a full life that Jesus’ birth announced.

Stay safe, keep happy and I will keep you in my prayers.

Frank Pisano