From the Deputy Headmaster

Churchie’s broader Term 2 curriculum is certainly capturing the imagination in profound and long-lasting ways. Over the last few days, some key events have showcased the diverse range of remarkable talents and interests of our students.

Music success

Music has a unique power to bring people together, and this was evident as Churchie’s talented musicians took the stage at the Mount Gambier Generations in Jazz festival this past weekend. This premier annual event attracts several thousand young musicians from over 80 schools across Australia.

Apart from the significant inspiration drawn from performing on such a grand stage, Churchie enjoyed remarkable success this year. Our Big Band came third overall (with junior players covering for some Year 12 students attending the Churchie Ball), and Luka Roberts (Year 11) and Zac Patane (Year 10) were both selected to perform in the festival’s Super Band, representing only the very best musicians from around the country.

Meanwhile, back in Brisbane, we had further success at the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Young Instrumentalist Prize held at the ABC studios, where Eric Kim (Year 11) received first place and Gabin Won (Year 11) received second place. Again, they were competing against the very best classical instrumentalists from around Queensland. It is a truly remarkable achievement to have two Churchie boys receiving the highest accolades.

As always, we thank our music staff for all their work in preparing, supervising and supporting our musicians in achieving such outstanding results.

Colliding galaxies

Yesterday, Churchie’s annual physics lecture brought together students and their teachers from several schools across South East Queensland to explore the wonders of the universe. This year’s lecture focused on the topic of colliding galaxies, a phenomenon that has fascinated astronomers and physicists alike.

Esteemed guest speakers discussed the science behind galactic collisions, explaining how these massive events occur and their impact on the structure and evolution of the universe. We were relieved to hear that the collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda won’t be taking place for around 4.5 billion years and that, even then, the impact on our own solar system (and Earth’s journey around the sun) is likely to be minor. Nonetheless, the lecture provided students with an opportunity to delve into cutting-edge astrophysics, sparking curiosity and encouraging them to think about the broader implications of these cosmic events.

We commend Head of Physics Joel Wise for all his organisation in setting up this remarkable event, now in its eleventh year, and for providing some intergalactic context to our daily toil.

Year 9 at Vision Valley

Over the last weekend, a group of fifty Year 9 boys from Churchie joined their counterparts from Pymble Ladies’ College (PLC) in Sydney for an outdoor education experience near the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales. New for 2024, this coeducational adventure is designed to foster teamwork, leadership and resilience as students engage in a range of activities such as rock climbing, canoeing and orienteering. The Vision Valley programme reflects Churchie’s ongoing commitment to holistic development, providing students with invaluable life skills and a chance to build strong relationships with their peers and with our friends from PLC.

Again, we thank our committed staff for all their work in supporting this new initiative, particularly those attending the camp at different stages over the next four weeks, and Deputy Head of Senior School (Years 7 to 9) Berian Williams-Jones, for all his organisation and leadership.

Richard Wheeldon
Deputy Headmaster