Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week many of your boys have been at Cadet or Newington Challenge Camp. The annual camp is an opportunity for the boys to practise the skills they have developed over the past seven months during home training and to bond with their peers through shared experiences and a little bit of hardship.

This year Mr Quinane and I joined the Cadets in the Colo Valley. Our Newington Challenge boys headed south to Murramarang National Park. Each year group had their own program, with Year 9 participating in ‘Building Our Character’, Year 10 taking part in ‘Growing Men of Substance (Boys becoming Men)’ and Years 11 and 12 focusing on ‘Leading through Service’. Our staff put in an enormous amount of work behind-the-scenes to make these camps safe and enjoyable for the boys, so please ask your boys to tell you about their experiences this week. There are many boys who reluctantly leave the creature comforts of home behind for camp, but it is rare to find a student on return who is not glad that they went.

Tomorrow is a very special day on campus – Valedictory Day 2018. The origin of the word valedictorian is the Latin valedicere, which means to bid farewell. It is an opportunity for parents, staff and boys to say good-bye and to thank the class of 2018 for all they have contributed to the College. I encourage all boys to send Year 12 off in a manner that is befitting this very special day.

For Years 8–11 Term 3 will finish with boys being dismissed at 12.50pm; Year 7 will follow at 1.10pm. I wish you a safe and enjoyable break and look forward to welcoming the boys back to Term 4 on Monday 15 October.