Principal's Message Week 4 Term 4
Last week saw the beginning of the end for Year 12 boys of their secondary schooling. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday there was an array of informal activities and rites of passage designed to make their last days memorable.
From here they now knuckle down to serious study before the external exams for all Queensland students commence. This time is precious in revising, consolidating, and doing practice papers in preparation for the exams themselves.
When a child leaves school, it marks a departure. A departure from this period of life, and a springboard into the next. Departure from school routine, from donning a school uniform, from bringing lunch to school each day, from the comfort of having a cohort of 160 friends and peers to turn up with each day, and a departure from the safety net of a bunch of adults whose task it is to educate, form, nurture, and encourage.
It also comes with some emotion, excitement, anticipation, questioning, a touch of anxiety perhaps, and much adventure for “what next”. Regardless, the departure is also felt by mums and dads. It represents change for parents as well. These things are often as acutely felt by parents as they are children, especially when they are the first child, and indeed the last child in the family. By the time it got to my last child, I was relieved! I was also excited that I’d paid my last school fees bill! I distinctly recall his first day at school when he was five years old – and we all have those photos don’t we? – and I distinctly remember his graduation day. I remember his friends gathering in our front yard on a Friday night, sitting around till all hours, spinning yarns, and telling tall tales. I remember the dubious fashion choices he made, the sports we endlessly sat on the sidelines watching, and the drop-offs and pick-ups from his first fast-food job. All of this is now a memory. And a fond one at that.
As I said to parents at the recent Year 12, 2027 Information Evening, if only we could do the senior schooling for them, it would be somewhat easier. But we can’t, and we shouldn’t. We can’t rescue them, and we shouldn’t. We can’t do the work for them, and we can’t get them the results they want/need/aspire to. The growing up part of adolescence is taking responsibility for one’s own learning, and also consequently, the results that come from this.
In the coming weeks, and following the exams, there will be rites of passage that are variously marked including the Graduation Mass, and lunch with families. At these celebrations, we will have the opportunity as a community, in community, to reminisce, to pray for these young men and their future, and to celebrate this milestone. I ask that all community members remember our Year 12 men in their prayers as they approach their external exams. You might like to choose a particular Year 12 young man (and his family) and pray for them each night in the lead up to exams.
Congratulations to our graduating class of 2026. May you go forth into the world with courage, compassion, and an abiding sense of service to others, and in the knowledge that God loves you unconditionally.
Dr Craig Wattam
College Principal
DISCOVERY TOUR | Thursday 5 November 9am
Choosing the right school is one of the most important decisions a family can make.
Our final Discovery Tour for 2026 is your opportunity to experience the Ambrose Treacy College difference.
See the College in action, explore our learning environments, and discover the strong pastoral care, opportunities and community that support boys from Year 4 to Year 12.
We warmly invite families to join us and see why so many choose ATC for their son's future.
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