The fantastic tour took the visitors from Uluru to Darwin, providing opportunities aimed to develop a deeper appreciation of the cultural significance of many important sites.

The students experienced the wonder of Uluru before heading to the domes of Kata Tjuta and hiking through the Valley of the Winds. In the Watarrka National Park on the traditional lands of the Matutjara people the group explored King’s Canyon’s mighty 300m high sandstone walls and enjoyed views that stretch across the Red Centre.

At Alice Springs the students were introduced to local wildlife at the Reptile Centre, appreciating the opportunity to get up and close with scaled creatures and feathered ones too, before the group set off to the iconic Karlu Karlu (Devil’s Marbles).

A trip to the Northern Territory wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Daly Waters where Australia’s first international airport was opened and the students were treated to a look around Tim’s Junkyard with its unexpected array of classic cars before continuing to Nitmiluk, also known as Katherine Gorge. There they enjoyed the heavenly natural thermal springs on the banks of the river before enjoying a cruise down the river, appreciating the dramatic scenery of the Gorge as they basked in the sunshine on board the ferry.

Picturesque waterfalls and great swimming spots were also highlights of their Nitmiluk National Park experience and the ever-changing landscape at Yellow Water Billabong and South Alligator River provided the explorers with some further glimpses of Top End wildlife.

The cultural significance of the country offered a deeper connection for the visitors, and the Burrungkay (Nourlangie) rock art site in Kakadu National Park highlighted the ancient history of the traditional owners. The students also marveled at the rock art at Ubirr with paintings of fish, turtles and goanna, as well as a thylacine, which became extinct on the mainland more than 2,000 years ago.

The students were also privileged to attend the Anzac Day dawn service at Jabiru and enjoyed a refreshing swim at Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park, discovering the magic of the landscape that is an important area to the Koongurrukun, Mak Mak Marranunggu, Werat and Warray Aboriginal people.

At the end their incredible adventures, the group arrived in Darwin, visiting the legendary Mindil Beach Sunset Markets and enjoying their last few hours together in the capital before heading home with fantastic memories and a deeper appreciation of the culture and beauty of the Top End.

This term, our talented musicians have commenced special performance afternoons providing quality entertainment for the residents at Mercy Aged Care. Launching the sessions, Jesse and Charlotte treated their audience to a mixture of guitar duets and solos, with Jesse leading on vocals for a few pieces also. The residents loved the entertainment and commented on how wonderful it was to see the students creating music. Our next performance at Mercy is on Monday 20 May.

Our Concert Band musicians were in fine form at Sacred Heart Primary School, entertaining students with a toe-tapping repertoire and explaining aspects of the various instruments. The concert aimed to entertain, educate and inspire the younger generation to pick up an instrument.

Trinity College combined musical forces with Apollo Bay P-12 College and Colac Secondary College and Trinity College with 60 young musicians spending a day making music and performing together.

Apollo Bay hosted the day and tutors were on board to assist students learn their parts and gather valuable knowledge about their instruments and music in general.

The morning consisted of full group rehearsals, followed by sectional tutorials. The afternoon was another quick full rehearsal before the musicians put on a concert for the entire school.

Students performed four new pieces they had only learned that day – 1812 Overture , YMCA, Viva la Vida and We Know the Way from Moana, as well as a bunch of their old favourites from previous workshops.

It was a wonderful day of music and collaboration for the three schools and we look forward to the next workshop day in Term 3.

It is wonderful to see that tutors have filled their time allotments already this year with a few already having waiting lists. Students still interested in learning an instrument are encouraged to complete a form and submit to be on the waiting list ready to go.

Vocal Ensemble is still open for students to join, with or without singing lessons, everyone is welcome. They meet on Thursday Break 1 in the Drama Room.

Junior Band will commence this term and will run in Break 1 (day to be confirmed).

As a reminder, it is expected that ALL students enrolled in the Concert Band Program will attend weekly rehearsals and lessons. This is applicable to the students in Concert Band and Junior Band.

Trinity College Colac’s House Cross Country took please under blue skies with a refreshing breeze supply some natural air-conditioning for the fast-paced competitors.

The students set off in gender year groups, heading off on the 5km course through the back streets of Elliminyt. The packs soon split off, with the athletes settling into their rhythm and giving it their all for the prize of being the fastest in their cohort.

Staff on bicycles kept pace with the runners and many also ran and walked the course, urging on the competitors and enjoying some time with the students out of the classroom.

Congratulations to the age group champions for their commitment to excellence, and special mention to the overall champions who are listed below.

Well done to everyone who entered – every effort contributes towards the coveted House Spirit Cup that is awarded at the end of the year.

Students are asked to bring a plate to share for supper. More details are below.

Our major goal for 2024 is to decrease waste production and increase opportunities around the school to divert products from landfill, such as by reducing unnecessary waste, seeking more environmentally friendly materials and by recycling or composting. The use of our special bins is an easy way to work more successfully towards achieving this goal.

Our Food Technology department is leading the recycling charge with various products and materials now being recycled or composted, which is dramatically decreasing the amount of true waste produced at all year levels. Our recent Student Learning Conversations Day was no exception, with staff encouraged to separate and correctly recycle waste and food leftovers from our lunch and afternoon tea breaks.

We chose to integrate the Colac Otway Shire recycling system as it is what we are familiar with in our homes. Familiarity and consistency are key, so sticking to established colour representations will help us all quickly adapt to recycling at school and encourage an ease for students and staff to think in a uniform way about recycling in their home and school lives.

Separating different materials and recycling items appropriately is quite simple and so important in ensuring that we can reuse materials as much as possible and that nothing with recycling or re-use potential goes to waste. At first, it might be an extra effort to think about what materials an item is made up of and in some cases pull a plastic section apart from a cardboard box (think tissue boxes), to remove the metal lid from a glass jar (think sauces and spreads) or separate a soft plastic cover from a hard plastic packet (think meat trays or fruit packets), but positive actions will become habit, allowing better environmental outcomes.

From every perspective, aiming to allow the benefits of recycling is a no-brainer. At Trinity, we strive to educate and develop the whole person. From whichever perspective you consider, a humanitarian viewpoint, a secular (non-religious) viewpoint or a religious or specifically Catholic viewpoint, care for the environment is crucially important and very much encouraged. By educating about sustainability, addressing sustainability matters and advocating for better environmental outcomes, we are working towards many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and Goal 13 Climate Action. For some thought, below are just two particularly relevant quotes from Pope Francis, encouraging all of humanity to take a united approach to better care for the environment and for our common home.

“Today, however, we have to realise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
― Pope Francis, encyclical letter Laudato Si’ on care for our common home

“We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it.”
― Pope Francis, encyclical letter Laudato Si’ on care for our common home