32 CAMPS ENRICH OUR CALENDAR OF EVENTS

What makes a great school? Certainly strong academic results – something we’ve got covered. But there’s one other thing: a vibrant culture marked by extensive enrichment activities.

Why is this important? Because students who have their interests stimulated at school are more likely to be engaged in their learning.

It’s also an important way to create healthy, fit, positive well-rounded citizens with knowledge of the environment and experience of the world.

Recently this has become an issue in the news due to the requirement to pay teachers and staff additional or time in lieu for attending camps and after hours extra-curricular events.

As a result, sadly, some schools have had to cut back on such activities. At APC we have made such events a big priority.

As you will see in the following pages, there is so much going on at the school to give everyone something to look forward to and gain confidence in:

• LitFest 2023, which was held a week ago and attracted a big crowd

• Book Week, which held numerous activities to encourage a love of reading

• Athletics Carnival, where our sports department provided a fun and competitive day of track and field events

• 2023 Dance Show – 'Thoughts of Nanushka, Vol I-VI' – held at the Lawler Southbank Theatre last Thursday and Friday. Our dancers are truly amazing.

And all this follows on from events held earlier this year, like the Swimming Carnival, interschool sports competitions such as rowing, the Drama Ensemble evening and almost weekly musical events and lunchtime student-led concerts.

We’re incredibly pleased that amidst all the turmoil over school camps around the state, we have maintained a full suite of camps to attend. In fact, this year there will be no fewer than 32 separate camps – from local ones like the Year-12 Study Retreat and the Wilson’s Prom Hike all the way to the New Caledonia French Immersion Study Tour and the Inspire Study Tour of Europe, which will take in England, France, Belgium and Germany.

As I write this column, the first of our 2023 ski camps for parents and students is trying out the early season conditions at Mt Buller.

Few schools are able to offer such an amazing set of camps, certainly few state schools.

I’m so proud that APC is a place of such amazing energy.

Steven Cook

Principal