Principal’s Address

Bicentenary Year

This year – along with other Christian Brother Schools throughout the world – Trinity College has been celebrating the bicentenary of the establishment of Edmund Rice's first school in New Street, Waterford in 1802. From this small beginning the great enterprise of Edmund Rice education, as we know it today, has developed.

In a number of ways the Trinity community has joined together to make this year very special. One highlight of the year was a wonderful combined Christian Brothers’ schools Mass held at the Entertainment Centre in May.

Trinity Old Boys Reunion

Another great celebration was held on Saturday 26 October, when nearly 600 past students gathered at Trinity for a Bicentenary Reunion. This night was a huge success and I congratulate the Trinity Old Boys’ Association Executive – and especially the Planning Team led by Darren Taggart – for their initiative and hard work in making this a wonderful event. Past students who attended were very complimentary about developments in facilities and programs at the school.

Governance

One of the issues currently occupying the attention of the Brothers generally, and the attention of the Province Leadership Team in particular, is the question of Brothers moving out of leadership positions in their schools – and also the consideration of a possible new form of governance for Christian Brother’s schools throughout Australia.

This process will be quite significant for schools such as Trinity, and will require of the Board and other members of the school community that we understand the special charism of Edmund Rice so that this can be lived out in the school and handed on through the school community. This challenge was a key feature of the address of Br Kevin Ryan, the new Province Leader, at this year’s Speech Night.

Academic Excellence

I am pleased to report that the College is continuing its double barrelled drive for academic excellence on the one hand, and developing a range of programs suited to the diverse needs of our students on the other. We have been especially pleased with the developing relevance of the INSTEPprogram that Trinity participates in – called ONSITE – which provides some forty five senior students the valuable experience of structured workplace learning.

We were, of course, delighted with last year’s superb academic results – culminating in four exhibitions – the best results in the College’s history. Of particular note was the performance of our students in literacy based subjects where they performed well above the state average in English, English Literature, History, Economics and Geography. At Trinity the improvement in boys’ literacy is in stark contrast to the poor performance by boys throughout the nation. It should be noted that one of the four exhibition winners last year was Daniel Privilege for English.

In addition to the excellence of the exhibition winners, a large number of TEE students performed extremely well. For instance, 5% of students achieved a TER of 99 (arguably five times the state average), 12% achieved a TER of 98 (arguably six times the state average), and nearly a quarter of the students (24%) achieved a TER of 95 (ie the top 5% in the state). These are outstanding “top end” results.

Mr Tony Curtis, Principal

Curriculum Framework

During the year we have progressed steadily with our planning for the implementation of the Curriculum Framework. Amajor step forward this year was our reporting in outcomes at Year 8 level. We plan to report in outcomes at the Year 9 level next year. The work involved in working through the Curriculum Framework process has placed a huge additional workload on Heads of Departments and teachers generally, and I thank them for their professionalism in working through this process.

Mary Rice Centre

We are delighted with the development of the Mary Rice Education Support Centre for students with disabilities which is operating extremely well with the strong support of

teachers. Next year we will have twenty three students in the Centre and a number of these will be moving into the post compulsory phase of their education. At the time of writing the College has advertised for an additional teacher to work in the Centre.

Design and Technology Education

Our Design and Technology courses are already at the cutting edge of Design and Technology education in Western Australia, and this year have progressed to include two Year 12 courses. This has been a very rapid and successful transition from nothing to a full range of technology courses.

I would especially like to thank Harry and Diane Marsden for their leadership in this important area and thank them for helping to establish such a great centre. Harry and Diane will be returning to England the end of this year for family reasons, and I would like to thank them and wish them well for the future.

Christian Service

With the employment of Mrs Marya Stewart as Director of Christian Service, we have implemented the third step of our three pronged faith education program which now involves Campus Ministry and Christian Service in addition to the traditional Religious Education courses. Mrs Stewart has recently returned from a tour of American High Schools which successfully operate Christian Service as core parts of their educational experience, so I’m sure we will see an expanded role for Christian Service next year.

Observatory

At this time last year we were talking about the development of our observatory. Following the appointment of Mr Jeremy Dixon as Observatory Manager, the operating systems have now been further developed and the observatory is now operational online. This is a wonderful development and we hope that Astronomy and Space Studies options, the astronomy club, and the night observations will continue to flourish. Next year we have been invited to host the Astrofest early in February. This year, the Astrofest, which was held at Lathlain Park, attracted some 6,000 visitors.

Year 12 Kairos Retreats

One important, and highly successful, initiative this year in our developing faith education program has been our first four day residential Kairos Retreats for Year 12 students. The Kairos retreats have involved an enormous commitment in planning, time and resources, but the end result has been beyond our most optimistic expectations. The Year 12 students I have spoken with have said it’s the best thing they have done in their lives. This is an extraordinary response which indicates that we might finally have found an experience for our young which touches them deeply and can significantly influence the direction of their lives. It is certainly an experience which could become a significant part of the profile of senior Trinity students. Our thanks are extended to all involved, and in particular, to Br Rob Callen for his great work in coordinating and energising the retreats.

Facilities and Upgrading

I am pleased to report also on two major areas of capital development at the College:

Replacement Pool

We received approval from the Christian Brothers to move ahead with the process which will lead to the construction of a new 50m swimming pool to replace the current 25m pool which is sinking. This pool will be heated for all year round school use and will have a full water polo capacity to allow for training and competitions in water polo which is a new PSAsport.

Because the pool and all the surrounds need to be extensively piled, one third of the cost will be underground. However, the new pool will be a great resource for both the primary and secondary schools and will be used for learn to swim classes, physical education, outdoor education, aquatics including lifesaving and scuba diving, as well as for the PSA swimmers and the water polo teams. There are expectations that the pool will be able to be used by members of the Trinity and wider community.

TOBA Function Centre Proposal

The other major capital development item I need to mention is the Trinity’s Old Boys Association’s proposal to build a function centre for up to 180 people as a first floor addition to the changerooms at Waterford. This is a very visionary concept, and the plans look very exciting. The Trinity Board has endorsed this proposal and has included it in its capital development planning framework.

The Trinity Old Boys have also undertaken to raise the funds for the total cost of the new centre as a special tribute to the College and the Brothers in this the Bicentennial year. This is an extraordinarily generous commitment and I would like to recognise this generosity and commitment publicly. I would like to thank the Old Boys, and in particular their hardworking and creative Executive, led by their President Les Conceciao.

Capital Fundraising Appeal

The College’s Capital Development Program is largely funded through its recurrent budget. However, from time to time this needs to be “topped up”.

The College has developed a loan proposal that will meet most of the cost of the new pool without a significant increase in fees. However, we have commenced a Capital Fundraising Appeal for new parents and those current parents who are not part of the Treacy Centre Appeal. The target of this appeal is to raise $500,000 over the next four years. At the time of writing, over $300,000 has been pledged by 120 families. This is a wonderful start to the appeal, and we thank all concerned very much for your support.

EPRA’S “Eastern Gateway” Masterplan

The consultation period for the East Perth Gateway draft Masterplan has now concluded, and Trinity’s response can be read via the ticker news links on the College’s web site (www.trinity.wa.edu.au).

The masterplan is a very exciting concept for the revitalization of the area around Trinity and in fact could provide an opportunity for an expansion of the College. Parents will be kept informed of any developments as they occur.

Br Pat O’Doherty’s Retirement

Members of the Trinity community will probably know by now that one of the legends of Trinity, Br Pat O’Doherty, retired at the end of third term after a lifetime of service in education.

I would like to recognise the enormous contribution and commitment of Br Pat. On your behalf, I thank him. I congratulate him for his wonderful life as a Brother, and I wish him a peaceful, enjoyable and restful retirement.

My Future Retirement

After more than forty years teaching, I have also decided that it is time to think of retirement, and perhaps learning to stay on a few more fairways. At the end of next year I will be approaching 65 and have decided that that is enough. My current contract concludes at the end of next year, and after that I will be joining Br Pat in retirement.

The Board has set up a succession planning working party which is presently working through the process of preparing the way for the advertising for a new principal to commence in 2004. At this stage the working party is considering advertising for the new principal early next year.

Thanks

Once again the support and contribution of parents to the College this year has been exceptional. This has occurred through formal groups such as the Canteen Roster, the College Board, the Ladies Auxiliary, the Parent Council, the new Uniform Shop, and the Opportunity Shop. In addition there are many others who help in many ways – in clubs, in other groups and individually.

To Mr Les Conceceio and the members of the Trinity Old Boys Association, I extend my thanks. The Association’s work in providing support for current students as well as past students in general is much appreciated and their two major initiatives this year – the planning for the Waterford Function Centre and the recent Bicentenary Reunion – have been outstanding.

The College Board, which has an important responsibility for assisting in the overall development of the College and the management of its resources, has been of great support to me. I'm particularly pleased that the Board has the capacity to view the big picture and to share the Edmund Rice vision. My personal and the College’s thanks are extended to Mr Damien Bowen and the other members of the Board. Mr Bowen, Mrs Irene Hislop and Mr John Featherby are due for retirement at the end of this year and I would like to thank them very much for their great contribution to the development of the College.

To the student body – and to the Year 12 group in particular – I extend our congratulations and thanks for what has been a great year of achievement. At Speech Night, we were able to recognize our graduating Year 12 students in a special way. On the previous Thursday we were likewise able to recognize them in a wonderful Mass and graduating ceremony and then at a graduation meal with their teachers and parents at Gloucester Park.

To Matthew Spencer, our Head Prefect and to Nathan Howe, Deputy Head Prefect, I owe a special debt of thanks. They, the other members of the prefect body and the Year 12 students generally have made a strong commitment to the College and its values. I extend to all our graduating students the College’s congratulations and best wishes for their future lives.

Staff

We are always much indebted to the members of our support and teaching staff. At Trinity we are fortunate indeed to have quality staff members – they are professional, hardworking, and strongly committed to the welfare of the College. Whilst we often notice and talk about changes in facilities and programs, we don’t talk enough about the daily interaction of teachers and students that is at the heart of the education process. It is the every day work of excellent teachers which makes Trinity a great school.

Mr Tony Curtis Principal