Our community was met with the sad news of the sudden passing of one of our fathers this week. Such a tragedy comes as an immense shock. We draw together this week in support of our family who is hurting deeply, and also in support of others in our community who continue to carry similar burdens of loss in recent times. If you believe further support should be directed to any member of our community, student or adult, please do get in touch.
Last Saturday saw the summer intercol competitions commence with what can only be described as a wonderful community day at West Lakes for the Head of the River. I thank Ms Jane Danvers and all staff and students from Wilderness School responsible for the organisation and logistics. It was also very pleasing to see so many students make their way to the event to support all our rowers, to cheer their efforts and, above all, to take great pride in being a student of St Peter’s College.
The Head of the River results were first class. The win in the Open First VIII and Open Second VIII were underpinned by a very high standard of performance across the entire boat club, with 12 wins out of a possible 19. Our celebrations on campus will be delayed by one week while our senior crew compete in the National Rowing Championships in Sydney this weekend. I must note our Captain of Boats, Angus Dawson, has competed in the National Men’s Under 19 single scull and achieved a bronze medal. Well done to all!
I greatly enjoyed meeting mothers and sons at the recent breakfast as well as parents and other members of our families at the Junior School movie night last weekend. Despite the lack of cooperation from the weather, the event remained a clear winner with the young girls and boys who attended. I make a particular mention of Mr David Hine who improvised with the indoor movie facility and also the added requirement of supervision to ensure the students could enjoy the viewing.
During the coming week we farewell one of our key leaders, the Director of Teaching and Learning Excellence, Ms Emily FitzSimons. After 17 years at Saints, Ms FitzSimons is moving to Victoria to take up a promotional position as Deputy Head at Peninsula Grammar School. I am very grateful for her long and loyal service to St Peter’s College and wish her well. Ms FitzSimons has provided steady leadership across our academic program during the last three years and will be missed by all staff and boys.
I would also draw your attention to the wider student achievements beyond our School competitions:
Arham Hashmi (Year 12 boarder) will represent the South Australia in the Under 17 team in the national junior indoor cricket competition in Toowoomba, Queensland in July. The Channel 7 Brighton Jetty Classic (BJC) was held in February with nearly 1,000 swimmers participating. The BJC offers a series of perpetual awards which recognise the swimming efforts of primary and secondary school-aged swimmers to further encourage participation in ocean swimming and surf lifesaving. Congratulations to Henry Miller (Year 7) who won a perpetual trophy for the 1,500m race. Finally, late last year Jacob Lowe (Year 10) represented Australia in the world sailing championships, held for the very first time in Freemantle over the Christmas holidays. This was preceded by his qualification and participation in the national championships (representing South Australia) in December. Jacob is 15 and qualified for the Under 17 age bracket in both events. Out of 14 Australian teams selected in his category, his team came 5th and overall in the world they came 25th. An astounding achievement!
Tim Browning, Headmaster
Photo: Tim Browning with Jane Danvers, Principal of Wilderness School and Chancellor of UniSA, Jim McDowell (Governor and current parent).