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Principal’s Message | Dr Michael Carroll

Dear members of the Terrace Family,

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the EREA Principals’ Conference in Melbourne.  The theme of the conference was ‘EREA in 2030’.  The conference was guided by Professor Sohail Inayatullah, global futurist and UNESCO Chair of Future Studies.  Much was discussed over the two days and below is a brief summary of some of the key aspects that surfaced across the conference time:

  • What is impossible today, but if possible, changes everything?
  • Principals were asked to consider examples of the used future and the disruptions to these, including emerging issues.  Participants proposed the following responses:
    • Education in a post-state governance world
    • Moving beyond social/cultural hierarchies
    • Discrimination eliminated
    • Less competition and more collaboration
    • Equity in the world
    • Declaration of Human Rights becoming possible
  • Young people from St Joseph’s Geelong, CBC St Kilda, St Patrick’s Ballarat, and St Bernard’s Essendon actively participated in the conference and voiced basic human needs (water, sanitation, vegetation) as a core emerging issue.
  • Professor Sohail led the teams through a process of considering alternative futures.  As part of radical change, young people named greater choice and flexibility in their learning, more focus on creativity and people skills, and more focus on people and the planet.
  • In 2030, participants anticipated schools might consider our national identity, unique charism, multi-level learning, centralised funding, national curriculum, schools without walls and online platforms.
  • Some key questions were posed:
    • Social hubs in a virtual world?
    • How do we design for social relations and spirituality?
    • How do we move from a closed mind-set to something flexible and adaptable?
    • How do we continue to articulate the story with the data?

Next week is the final week of classes for Semester 1, with students heavily involved with their exams.  A reminder to parents that exams will continue until Friday 21 June with the semester finishing with a liturgy commencing at 2pm. The final round of GPS Football and Tennis is also scheduled for this day.  The 1st Xl Football game will commence at 12.30pm at Tennyson, whilst the 1st lV Tennis will commence at 12pm at Terrace. As previously communicated, no other matches in this final round will be played.  As this is the final round, I extend my congratulations to all involved in both the Football and Tennis programs and thank the Support Groups and the many volunteers who have assisted throughout the season.

Finally this week, I again remind parents and students about being prepared for their exams with dedicated revision, correct equipment, adequate sleep and good nutrition being key ingredients which all need to be considered during exam time.

Have a great week.
God Bless,


Dr Michael Carroll
College Principal