Principal's Reflections

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Dear Members of the Old Boys Community

2007 has commenced in an exceptionally positive way. As always, our major focus is on the development of the spiritual self within the context of a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice Tradition. Our aim is to graduate “Signum Fidei’s” – young men who have the capacity to make a difference in the world because they know themselves, know their God, know they are privileged, recognize and value the difference in others and have the capacity to walk in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized.

Our total enrolments sit at 1300 students with approximately 300 of those young men boarding. We have maintained our boarding numbers and there is no doubt that there is an increasing number of students joining us from Papua New Guinea. This is almost like a return to the old days.
There is no doubt that the refurbishment of our boarding facilities along with the inclusion of a new boarding village in our Master Plan positions us well to cater for the needs of those who wish to live, as well as learn, at St Joseph’s Nudgee College.

Our academic results for 2006 were again very pleasing. Out of the 227 OP eligible students:

• 25% of students achieved an OP 1 - 6
• 35% of students achieved an OP 7 - 12
• 27% of students achieved an OP 13 - 18
• 13% of students achieved an OP 19 - 25

A critical statistic is the fact that 99% of our students who applied to go on to further study have achieved that goal.

Professional development continues to play a large role in forming our staff, and subsequently, our students. We continue to place a lot of energy on the continuing application of our chosen Learning / Teaching paradigm, ‘Dimensions of Learning’.

This year, our Middle Managers are the focus for our professional development energies. I believe that these managers are critical in terms of their capacity to manage up as well as down. Similarly, a lot of effort has been placed into ensuring that our coaches, many of whom are not teachers, contribute significantly to the formation of our young men in terms of their alignment to the Edmund Rice ethos.

We still await the outcome of a decision in terms of the establishment of our Middle School, Years 5-7. We are expecting that this will be communicated with us in the very near future. Such an announcement, should it prove positive, will enable us to continue with our plans for the future.

The general life of St Joseph’s Nudgee College is further enhanced this year as we embark upon our first College Musical for a number of years.
We have formed a relationship with St Rita’s College and we will have our Musicals every two years, while in the alternate year, we shall support St Rita’s in their production. This year, our College is producing ‘Grease - The Musical’ at the Redcliffe Entertainment Centre. Scheduled shows are Opening Night Saturday 21 July, Sunday 22 July - Matinee, Wednesday 25 July and Closing Night Friday 27 July. All Old Boys are most welcome to attend.

We are such an exciting and complex community. The Nudgee College Old Boys’ Association is an integral part of what I call nudgee.com, the Nudgee World Wide Web. I believe that the capacity of the Nudgee Old Boys’ Association to be integral to the strengthening of this web is paramount in terms of the Association’s strategic direction. There is no doubt that Nudgee Old Boys can support us in helping us access funds, seek mentors for our students, and to support us in connecting with each other through appropriate communication.

We are committed to being present at as many Nudgee College Old Boys’ events as we are invited to. I anticipate being flooded with invitations.

We look forward to having you with us throughout 2007.
With every best wish for the future. In the meantime,
God bless and ‘Live Jesus in our Hearts – Forever!’