Principal’s Address

Principal’s Address

This is quite a nostalgic time for me. I first started as a teacher at Trinity thirty-nine years ago in 1965. Since then I have had a son go through the College, been a foundation member of the Trinity Board, and have been Principal for the past ten years. This will be my last report before my retirement and so there is something like a grieving process going on.

The Four Pillars

Ten years ago at Trinity we identified and articulated what we called our "four pillars": academic excellence, faith education, music and PSA sport. These were areas we were determined to concentrate on and improve.

Academic Excellence

Trinity has traditionally been recognized as a school that focuses on academic excellence.

I am pleased to report that the academic standing of the College remains strong. In particular, I am pleased with the considered and professional progress towards the implementation of the Curriculum Framework, and the strong drive to improve literacy in both the Primary and Secondary schools. When I arrived at Trinity as Principal in 1994, every single Year Twelve student studied a TEE course; and this destined 25% of them to failure. Of great satisfaction to me has been the strong growth and the great success of various programs catering for students not intending to proceed to university. Our Vocational Education and Training program has developed well and Trinity is a member of one of the best clusters of schools providing structured work-place learning for students. The Mary Rice Education Support Centre for students with disabilities is also operating extremely well and at full capacity. Apart from the excellent Coordinator and staff, the teachers at the school strongly support the program.

Faith Education

The second of our pillars has been faith education. Over the past decade many of us have come to believe that classroom study of religious education was not, in itself, capable of nurturing a meaningful faith experience. We therefore developed – and put resources into – a three-pronged Faith Education strategy that focuses on the "head, the heart and the hands". These areas are the formal religious education courses; Christian service from Year Eight to Year Twelve; and a radical overhaul of liturgies and retreats that came under the umbrella of Campus Ministry. To my knowledge Trinity’s program is unique in that we have made a strong commitment to having specialist coordinators for each of Religious Education, Campus Ministry and Christian Service. Various elements of this program are proving to be even more successful than we had hoped; and I believe the results will become in time defining characteristics of a Trinity education. The Christian Service program is developing well and in the near future Trinity will have a structured program suited to each Year level. The development of the specialist retreat program –again planned to be a meaningful experience for each particular age group –is proving a great success. To hear Year Twelve students say that their four day residential KAIROS retreat was the "best experience of their lives" is something that makes a Principal think that all the effort is worthwhile. Wehave recently sent one of our teachers over to America to participate in the experience of a Jesuit High School Quest Orientation Retreat, which we will adapt for our Year Eight students starting next year. I think this new orientation retreat has the potential to be as good for the Year Eights starting their secondary schooling as the Kairos retreats are for the Year Twelves.

Music

The third pillar – the music program at Trinity has risen yet again to another level of excellence. The class music program, the individual music tuition, and the instrumental and vocal ensembles all operate at an outstanding level. The wonderful performances at the Catholic Schools and Colleges Performing Arts Festival recently showcased the great talent of Trinity performers. I was particularly pleased this year with the extremely moving performances of the Senior Vocal Ensemble and the work of the Primary and Secondary Dance groups. The development of these dance groups has been a great innovation for Trinity. Ten years ago the Pipes and Drums Band was down on numbers and almost facing extinction. The revival of this important band has been very significant for the College.

PSA Sport

The PSA sporting competition was the fourth pillar. Membership of the PSA sports competition has been a strong part of the profile of Trinity College over the past thirty-five years. This competition has provided a

great opportunity for well-organized, competitive sports for most of our secondary boys most weekends. I am pleased to report that our overall competence and competitiveness is amongst the best of the PSA schools. In particular, I am pleased that, over the past decade, Trinity has improved its whole school depth in many of the sports to the extent that Trinity is recognized as a leading school in soccer, rugby, rowing, cricket, football, cross country, basketball, athletics and volleyball. I hope that the new pool will provide the facility needed for a great stimulus for swimming and waterpolo. In commenting on the success of the PSA sports, I need to acknowledge again the wonderful efforts of our coaches, managers and parent support groups.

A Fifth Pillar

Over recent years Trinity has developed a fifth pillar: technology. Technology in education has to be an essential focus for the College as we prepare students for our technological world. We now have a first class Information and Communications Technology Department that has promoted a strongly integrated Information and Communications Technology strategy across all learning areas. The Design and Technology courses from Year 8 to Year Twelve are operating at the cutting edge of Design and Technology Education. They are in such high demand that we need to employ an additional teacher in this area for next year. The creation of our observatory, for astronomy and science extension, has provided unique experiences for astrophotography for our students. In fact our facilities are now so good that the Australian Mars Exploration Society has made overtures to the College to use Trinity as its home base, including the building of a Mars exploration vehicle.

Facilities and Upgrading

I’d like to make two brief comments about the development of the facilities: (i) firstly, it is obvious that the College is developing attractive facilities that create a good learning environment; and (ii)secondly, and very importantly, we have now at the Board level been able to produce a capital budget for the future which will provide for regular substantial capital development upgrades. The magnificent response of parents to our capital appeal has greatly assisted in this development. During the past year $675,000 has been pledged to this appeal over four years. In addition, the Trinity Old Boys Appeal has received over $400,000 in pledges towards the development of the Waterford Function Centre.

Finance

I am pleased to report that Trinity will finish this year with a surplus and that the budget situation for the foreseeable future looks very sound. This good financial position is largely built on very strong enrolments –despite the College’s having fees that are less than half those of Aquinas and one third of the other PSA schools.

Principal’s Address

Principal’s Address

2004 Budget

Having said this, I need to report that there are currently three recent external costs on the budget that we have absorbed from reserves: • firstly, increases in insurance costs and these have affected everybody; • secondly, a new levy from the Christian Brothers to support their work.It is important for all Edmund

Rice schools to share in this mission; and • thirdly – and most costly – has been an impost from the Catholic Education Office to support the CEO’s

Defined Benefit Superannuation Scheme. The total additional payment to the Catholic Education

Office this year for Trinity staff covered by the scheme has been $194,000. However, meeting these costs from reserves is not sustainable into the future, and the Board will regrettably have to include these costs in the fee structure. Despite this, the proposed tuition fee increase appears modest and certainly much less than the fee increases planned for Aquinas and the other PSA schools.

Thanks

At this stage I have a lot of people to thank:- my wife Elizabeth, who has been a great friend and a great support, and the members of my family. I also extend my appreciation to the members of the Christian Brothers’ leadership team and to the many Brothers I count as friends. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the members of the Trinity College staff. Trinity has a wonderfully professional and committed group of teachers and support staff. I thank you all for your great work and wish you well for the future. Over the years the support and contribution of parents to the College 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, the Opportunity Shop, and the Fete Committee. In addition there are many others who help in many other ways – in clubs, in other groups and individually. Toall of you I say a very special thank you. ToMr. Les Conceicao and the members of the Trinity Old Boys Association, I extend my thanks. I appreciate the Association’s work in providing support for current students as well as past students. My personal and the College’s thanks are extended to Mrs Leanne O’Dea and the other members of the Board for their wonderful support. My hope is that the Board will continue to view the big picture, and continue to reflect on and share the Edmund Rice vision. To the student body – and to the Year Twelve group in particular – I extend our congratulations and thanks for what has been a wonderful year of achievement. ToMichael Ford, our Head Prefect and to Sam Miles, Deputy Head Prefect, I owe a special debt of thanks. They, with the other members of the prefect body and the Year Twelve students, have made a strong commitment to the College and its values. I wish all our graduating Year Twelve students the College’s congratulations and best wishes for their future lives.