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A Note from the Principal - Welcome to Term 3Wednesday 5th August 2009 Dear Parents,
Welcome to term 3! Many of you may be under the impression that our campus is a quiet place during school vacation but nothing could be further from the truth. Our campus has been a hive of activity with numerous projects underway during the break including:
- Installation of a new phone system linked to our emergency evacuation and lockdown facilities.
- Construction of a covered area over the Middle School Stage
- Completion of the fencing of the College
- Staff in-servicing, programming and preparation
- Staff First Aid Training
- SPCC Staff Conference
- Cleaning and maintenance projects
As you can see it has been a busy but productive time. Please come and have a look at the results of all this hard labour!
Welcome
A big welcome to Mrs Emily Johnston who has joined our Middle School teaching team this term and Mrs Annie Smith who will be joining our Learning Support team. Both bring very special qualities to our College community.
We also welcome our visiting students from Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong who will be visiting us this term. Benvenuto!
Reading
With the current emphasis on both technology and entertainment, it seems reading is becoming a dying skill. Few current tragedies pain me more. It is now a fact that one half of the students who graduate from university
never read another book. Even though a Ph.D. is virtually obsolete in five years unless he or she continues to read, many of them opt for an easier out. In light of this let me extol the benefits of reading!
- Reading sweeps the cobwebs away: It enhances thinking. It stretches and strains our mental muscles. It expands our narrow, intolerant opinions with new ideas and strong facts. It stimulates growing up instead of growing old. Francis Bacon's famous rule is so true, so good: Read not to contradict or confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Reading expands us. It scratches those itches down deep inside. It navigates us through virgin territory we would not otherwise explore.
- Reading increases our power of concentration: Through this discipline, the mind is programmed to observe and absorb. It replaces the "Entertain Me" mentality with "Challenge Me." The eye of a reader is keen, alert, probing, questioning.
- Reading makes us more interesting to be around: Small wonder the boredom factor in social gatherings is so great! After you've run through the weather, the kids, the job, and your recent surgery, what else is there? Being a reader adds oil to the friction in conversation. We need to read widely, including some periodicals as well as the classics.
How about in term 3 we encourage our children to be avid readers by example!
Every Blessing
Chris Walkling
Principal
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