Principal
What a difference 1,700 boys and young men make.
Energy; hustle and bustle; laughter and happy faces; hand balls and flying footballs have all returned across the campus. In short, it is good to be back. I sense that among many parents there is a strong feeling that it is also good to have their sons back at school and out of the house.
Last week’s learning online has meant that all the classes have started with some momentum this week and there is a sense that we have not lost too much learning and teaching time.

One of the highlights of the week was Tuesday’s Academic assembly (online) in which we presented the College Dux from 2021 along with the other Top Achievers from last year’s Year 12 cohort. Well done to all those young men and it was pleasing to be able to acknowledge all these young men for their success. They were listed with short bio’s in last week’s newsletter. The range of their future studies and endeavours is exciting to read. In many ways it is regrettable that they could not be acclaimed in the usual manner at a full assembly. We congratulate Caine Day for his outstanding achievement as College Dux. He has also been awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship from the University of Queensland for his achievement.
A feature of the assembly was the high quality of the speeches from Caine, himself, as well as from 2022 College Captain, Harry Roati, and Mr Jason Sepetauc (Dean of Learning and Teaching). In particular, Caine’s speech resonated with many boys as he shared his journey as a student at the College, as well as some very practical tips for boys to apply to their own learning. It is worth noting that Caine, who started in Year 6, did not win an academic prize until Year 10 and he was never Dux of his year level until last year. I share Cain's speech with you here. It is well worth reading.

Also on an academic theme, today we awarded the Gold, Silver and Bronze academic awards from Semester 2, 2021. Ordinarily this is also a feature of a full school assembly but the present COVID-19 restrictions means that we cannot gather in such large numbers. It is pleasing to be able to award 315 students with these awards - 129 Gold, 93 Silver and 93 Bronze.
It is hoped that these awards along with the strong messages from Tuesday’s assembly serve to encourage all boys to do their best in the coming term. Further details on these achievers is contained in the Learning and Teaching report in this newsletter.
It has been our custom over many years to host Parent Information Nights at the start of the school year. They have been good opportunities to gather together socially as well as to hear important information about the year ahead. These nights were offered online this year and we had over 950 attendees over the four nights. Such numbers are a strong indicator of parental engagement in their son’s schooling. Research tells us that parental engagement such as this is integral to student success at school. The feedback has been positive about the content provided by class teachers, House Deans and the various leaders from the Student Office, the Junior School and Learning and Teaching.
Finally, there are two important activities in the coming week to highlight for you. On Saturday the College Advisory Council will gather for their annual planning day that helps to shape their strategic governance, advice and support in the year ahead. We thank Br Damien Price for the manner in which he so wisely leads in the role of Chair. Also, next Thursday evening we will host outdoors in the Edmund Rice Mall the Year 12 Investiture and Blessing Liturgy. The Year 12s have started their leadership roles with energy and commitment over recent weeks even with the disruptions.
So the ‘start’ of school is over and for 1,714 Nudgee College men, their teachers and their parents the journey of 2022 is well and truly underway.
May God Bless us all in that journey.
Mr Peter Fullagar
Principal