Today we conducted taypani limilinaturi, a gathering on the grounds of Don College, to celebrate the achievements of our students in the first 10 weeks of this school year. Our surroundings set a wonderful stage to highlight the natural environment, which we are immersed in, each day. I thank Elder, Tony Medcraft and members of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation for conducting a traditional smoking ceremony.

 Having worked in this role for 15 years now I am still impressed by the capacity of our students. Student Leaders, Jaikira, Paige and Toby are very accomplished in public speaking and managed proceedings for the gathering. Katie and Lucas combined to provide amazing musical entertainment for us. Thank you to all students and staff who organised and participated in this gathering.

A key value of our school is responsibility. All students have a responsibility to attend all classes. We know that students who attend more classes achieve higher results and have more choices when they leave formal education. I would like to congratulate the 438 students who have attendance greater than 90%. In fact, 342 of our students have achieved 100% attendance for this term. This data demonstrates that attending classes is the norm.

We understand that life is not always predictable and there might be the odd occasion where barriers to attendance result in an absence. The “work” of a student is to be in class, engage in learning and complete tasks to the best of their ability. We encourage all students and families to set high expectations of themselves in Term 2 and work towards excellence in participation in their educational program.

We wish all students and staff safe and happy holiday break. Thank you for your efforts this term.