A warm welcome to all members of the St Peter’s College community as we commence the academic year. A very special welcome to our new students and families that have joined our School for the first time in 2024. We look forward to sharing the journey of your son’s education through a strong partnership between home and school.
As has become tradition we began the school year with the whole school attending a special Smoking Ceremony conducted by Aunty Laiya Lochowiak and Jackson (Year 8). The Ceremony not only provided an opportunity to recognise the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the land St Peter’s College was built upon in 1849, but to acknowledge that teaching ways of knowing have been and remain an important part of Kaurna culture today.Ceremonies have also been held to commission our School Captains and Junior School leaders. Both were important occasions in which our community was reminded of our heritage, values and the role of leadership within our School. Our School Captains James and Ryan have paused their immediate ambitions for 12 months to serve our community; to represent us, to advance us and to hopefully improve our community. It is a great honour for the boys and a superb opportunity in which they will learn so much about themselves through serving others.
Yesterday we welcomed back some of our newest old scholars for our traditional Academic Muster. We gathered to applaud these high achievers of the Class of 2023 who are representatives of the effort, growth and resilience of the wider cohort. It was pleasing to see the ‘strong and lovely’ shine through in all endeavours – in the classroom, in music and the arts, on the sporting field and in service to others. A summary of these achievements can be read in our Celebrating the Class of 2023 brochure.
It was evident across the ceremony that academic results cannot be separated from the boys’ broader educational experience; high performance in the classroom and examination hall is not additional to, but a result of their rich pastoral and co-curricular engagement. You can read about the strategies our students adopted to push themselves into the high-performance space in the Address delivered by our Deputy Headmaster – Learning and Teaching.
Congratulations to 2023 cohort and a special mention of our Dux of School Darren Nguyen (FLL 2023) who delivered a wonderful Address, and our Proxime Accessit Gunin Singhal (FLL 2023).
I hope all parents and guardians will accept my invitation to attend our Welcome Cocktail evening on Friday 16 February. The event provides a wonderful opportunity to meet and catch up with the parents and guardians of your son’s peers, so please prioritise this event to assist you in taking your rightful place in our community. Tickets can be purchased here.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Tim Browning
Headmaster