Learning the Ropes

As a new staff member to ATC I have slowly been putting the layers together since first landing on campus on the 8th of January. From the friendly faces of our school officers and the communications team, the ever-helpful facilities staff, connecting with and getting to know my fellow CLT members and then finally the last two layers meeting our enthusiastic teaching team and learning leaders and of course, the students. I have felt incredibly welcome here at ATC and very much look forward to being a part of the College community.

This is an exciting time to join the College with the release of the new strategic plan and as the Dean of Learning I will work with our college staff to bring our priorities to a reality for the benefit of our students and the broader community. This work began with the Learning Leaders team during staff week where we gathered our shared understanding of the new strategic document.

As we start the academic year, we will acknowledge those students who showed improvement and diligence to their learning for Semester Two 2023 with our Academic and Scholars assemblies in Week 2. Our scholar's assembly on 30 January will see the return of our 2023 Year 12 cohort. We look forward to celebrating their outstanding achievements with special mention to our Dux Matthew Collins and Proxime Accessit Tristan Sheedy.

The new school year is the time to reflect on the 2023 academic year and for students to look at their strengths and areas for growth and put strategies in place to lay the foundation for a successful year ahead. As Matthew our 2023 Dux outlined in ATConnect his success came from constantly revising rather than leaving it to the last minute and this is great advice for our students. Students should aim to start the year with a good routine that allows for daily revision as well as finding time for relaxation and reward. Getting the balance right will make the difference to a routine being adhered to.

Finally, the start of the academic year is a great time to think about goals for the semester and how they can be achieved. Each student is unique in the way they learn, and so challenging goals present themselves in many different ways. They help guide our students with a sense of purpose and clarity for the semester.

I look forward to the sub school assemblies and getting to know the ATC community throughout the year.

Liana Baillie

Dean of Learning