Grade 12 Supporting Cancer Council
For the School’s 58th Walkathon, Grade 12 have chosen to focus their awareness and fundraising efforts on the Cancer Council. As a grade, cancer has had a significant impact on a number of them and I look forward to seeing the whole School learn more together about how we can support individuals and families through the pain and loss cancer brings to communities.
Grade 12’s first fundraising event is the Acoustic Night held this Friday night at 5:30pm in the Quad at the Senior Campus. Food and drinks will be available and tickets ($5 child / $10 adult) are available at the gates. If you are in Launceston and looking for a relaxed and inspiring evening, do come along and support a great cause and wonderful students.
Pavilion Renewal
The Sir Gordon Rolph Memorial Pavilion was opened in 1961 by Robert Menzies and over the last sixty years has served our cricket and football teams well. To ensure the Pavilion continues to be fit for purpose for another sixty years, the space will be renewed over the next two months. The history of Cricket and Football at the School will continue to be on display in the space and a scorer’s table will be made from the old floorboards which are being replaced as decades of studded shoes has worn them down. The rear end of the building is where the majority of work will occur so that change rooms lead on to separate toilets and showers for each team and visitor toilets are separate from student facilities. As plans for the renewal have been developed there has been consultation with staff, students and alumni and when the 1st XI Cricket team were recently shown the final plans there was significant enthusiasm for the work that will be undertaken over the coming weeks.
Sporting Success
While a large focus of our sports programme is on helping students learn how to be healthy throughout their life, many of our students have been excelling individually and collectively. Our 1st XI Cricketers have won the first three games of the season and have defeated St Patrick’s, Hutchins and Guilford Young. This weekend (Saturday 27 February) the 1st XI play Guilford Young again at Launceston Grammar with the game starting at 10:00am.
Student involvement in rowing continues to grow and Head of the River at Lake Barrington, which is on Saturday 13 March, will be here before we know it. Our rowing crews are to be congratulated on their recent performance at the Launceston and Henley Regatta where, despite some windy conditions, our crews were awarded trophies for winning Division 1 in the U14, U15, U16 and coxed quad scull events. Students also won the U19 mens quad and double and U19 womens quad at the State Championships last week with the School also being awarded the Schools’ Pennant for the 2020-21 season.
Earlier in the year Jake Elmer took out the state tennis champion winning the UTR 18-and-under singles and doubles titles in Hobart. For some of our students, football is already under way and Kara Hennessy and Zoe Bourne are to be commended for their selection in the Tasmanian Devils football team.
All students at the School have participated this term in House Swimming Carnivals with Wilkinson House winning the day at the Senior Campus and Lyttleton-Hewton winning at the Junior Campus. A reminder that students are encouraged to take up the opportunity to attend the School indoor heated swimming pool for general fitness or intensive carnival training on Tuesday or Thursday (7:15am – 8:15am) each week during Term 1.
175th Anniversary Events
If you have not already visited the 175 Anniversary page on the School’s website dedicated to the School’s 175th anniversary, I encourage you to have a look . Recently, a number of the key events scheduled for June were added to the page. Please check out what is planned during 2021 on our School Calendar page and put some of the key dates in your diary now, particularly the 175 Cocktail Gala (19 June), Founders’ Day Service (20 June).
Richard Ford
Headmaster