This is our final newsletter for 2025, and on behalf of our College Leadership Team I would like to extend a warm invitation to our upcoming end of year signature events, which are listed at the end of this article. There are a number of moments where we focus on our Anglican tradition, achievements across 2025, student success and rites of passage for some year groups. There are more dates in my Principal letter and further information will be shared from our Heads of School, Mrs Sarah Stokes and Mrs Sue O’Connor.

In our preparation for Christmas through the Advent themes (Hope, Peace, Love and Joy) I encourage you to consider the action of peace. We dived deep into the meaning of hope through Hope25 this year and at this sacred time of year, living peacefully amongst our friends, colleagues and, most importantly, our families holds a special meaning. The more we model actions of peace to our children, the greater the understanding they have of what peace looks like through small steps and actions. The nativity scene reflects the themes of Advent and the overall hope of peace across the world. Our Kindergarten nativity play is also one of our special highlights at this time of year. Where we can, we should encourage actions of peace and hope, including donating to our Christmas hamper appeal, thanking those who helped us across the year and of course preparing for a joy filled holiday. We wish Year 11 well as they will head to Cambodia for their immersive experience for 2025 and Year 9 as they complete their rite of passage into high school.

We have had great success recently in the Wiburd Shield Cricket competition with Mr Andrews moving to the next round, winning the NSW Country Schools Chess State Final with Mr Atkins and the 2025 Anglican Schools Cup. The College also celebrated great success at the Performing Arts Awards Night for dance, drama, entertainment and music: a showcase of performance excellence.

Last week we formally opened our new music centre of excellence, the Maam Ngaalganda-Yibaangga music building and music village. We look forward to many years of performances and developing our students' musical enjoyment in this wonderful hub.

Commencing the year with our focus through Hope25 and our Anglican tradition has also strengthened our care for each other. The College also recently received a letter from School 88 in Zaporizhzia (Ukraine) thanking Murray House and Year 8 English for their support of reading books and letters of hope. Character development through service is a key focus across our campus and it is a joy to see the variety and impact that this makes through the action by our students and staff.

Social Media Age Restrictions Commences from 10th December
Please be aware that a number of social media platforms from 10 December 2025 will become age-restricted social media platforms. This means that they will have to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under the age of 16 from creating or keeping an account. The restrictions aim to protect young Australians from pressures and risks that users can be exposed to while logged in to social media accounts. As of 5 November 2025, it is eSafety's view that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit are age-restricted platforms. Please see further information at eSafety below:

eSafety Commissioner advice:https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions

Our staff recently demonstrated their learning and teaching growth across K-12 in a showcase to demonstrate their learning for global competencies through Designing for Deep Learning or DDL. The College teachers continue to embed each revised syllabus by NESA and our support teams provide one to one and small group assistance in a growing area of need. A significant milestone was the 120 Class of 2025 students who completed the HSC. This has been our biggest Year 12 cohort in our College history.

Vocational courses continue to develop in Years 11-12 with strong growth in Business Services and our first HSC class for VET Entertainment and Agriculture. The innovative distance education BDC Horizon is expanding into Year 11 and Year 12 for 2026. The academic focus and accelerated program of HSC courses continues to develop our pursuit of excellence across the academic sphere of our campus and is just one area of the BDC Advantage. The curriculum is enhanced through our continued development of Kaizen in Years 5 to 8 and World Options in Years 9 and 10.

The College will introduce a bucket hat in 2026, and new students and Year 10 should purchase one in their house colours. These hat styles were chosen last year through student voice and agency and it has taken a long time to finalise the colour match for Sutherland. We look forward to the house hat joining the house shirts in primary and for secondary. For the start of year uniform purchases, please book in early with Midford to update your uniform items.

New enrolments for 2026 and beyond? In Coffs Harbour we often experience a number of families moving here at short notice at this time of year. We do have limited spots in Kindergarten and Year 11. If you meet any potential new families (or local residents) please encourage them to contact our enrollment team (and our Office) for further information. Vacancies can also occur unexpectedly in any year level.

I would also like to remind you of our key end of year and return to school dates.

Week 8
4 December: 2025 Primary Presentation Assembly, Year 6 Graduation Dinner
5 December: 2025 Secondary Presentation Assembly

Week 9
8 December: K-12 Christmas Service (morning), BDC Christmas Carols (evening)
9 December: Primary Fun Day, Secondary picnic and last day for students
10-11 December: Staff Development Days
12 December: Office closes
18 December: HSC and ATAR results are released (morning tea at BDC).

2026 Week 1
Monday 2 February: K-7, Year 10 Peer Support and Year 12 return (please note date change).
Tuesday 3 February: All students return (Year 8 to 11).

I encourage you to contribute to our annual 2025 Christmas Hamper Appeal to support The Soupie and families in need at Christmas time.

I wish you and your family a happy and peace-filled Christmas. Thank you for your support of our College and we look forward to a wonderful 2026.

God bless,
Simon Doyle, Principal