A Word From The Principal…

Moving from strength to strength!

As we now begin the final week in the 2020 academic calendar, it is clear that despite the global pandemic, this has been another very successful year for Investigator College as we move from strength to strength.

Enrolments surged as many people from capital cities woke up to the fact that there is an Anglican College on the South Coast of South Australia that can hold its own with the best in the capital cities.

The growth of our College brings with it many advantages. Among these are some wonderful new staff appointments, increased student support (including a Counsellor and Learning Strategies Coordinator), planned upgrades to our Junior and Middle School facilities and partnerships with other leading Anglican Colleges.

New Staff Announcements

In addition to the leadership appointments announced in previous additions, it gives me great pleasure to announce some impressive additions to our very strong teaching teams.

Edwina Bruce

Edwina is very experienced in teaching at Anglican Colleges, having worked initially at St John’s Grammar School and then Woodcroft College for many years, as well as leading the Walford Old Scholars Association for some 13 years. Edwina is also very experienced in Outdoor Education and SAPSASA coordination and will teach an Upper Primary class in 2021.

Alana Coppock

Alana has worked in both the state system and at St Peter’s Girls’ School. An extremely talented netballer and coach, Alana is a former Best and Fairest of Matrics Netball Club (Premier League). She will join our Junior Primary team.

Lisa Pointon

Currently Head of Music at Kingston Community School, Lisa has also been Head of Music at the Robert Fitzroy R-6 Academy in London. On top of this, Lisa is an accomplished Literacy and Numeracy teacher, with special interests in differentiation, Visible Learning and phonics. Her experience within the Arts is quite amazing, particularly as a trumpet player, band, orchestra and choir leader. Lisa will be a tremendous addition to our Junior School team.

Raji Kaur

Experienced in and passionate about innovative pedagogies and ICTs, as well as Positive Education, Raji comes highly recommended from a number of schools in the South Coast District and joins our Middle School team in 2021.

Student Counsellor – Nicole Eckermann

In previous editions we did not announce that Nicole Eckerman has been appointed as our Student Counsellor. Nicole comes to us from Eastern Fleurieu School and I know that many of you are delighted to have a Counsellor at Investigator College.

Staff Farewells

Investigator College is blessed with an exceptional staff – both teaching and non-teaching. Sadly we must farewell some highly valued members of the team.

Nicole Cousins has taught here for some 11 years and watched her children excel here also. We are so grateful for Nicole’s wonderful service at Investigator College, and I know you all join me in wishing her every success in the next phase of her life in Adelaide.

Sally Judd has been running the best school library on the South Coast for some years now and has accepted a position at St Matthew’s Primary School in Canberra. I know you join me in wishing Sally every success next year and feel grateful for her fine work at Investigator College, including teaching Year 6 this year.

We also farewell some impressive contract teachers (for now). Thank you to Alison Alcorn, Nathan Brown, Ruth Price and Natalie Redwood for their fine contributions.

Board News

Our gratitude and best wishes are extended to our very supportive College Board. We extend special thanks to Chair, Rachel Elliott, who is moving to Adelaide with her family at the end of the year. The successful sale of the former Goolwa Campus was a major achievement of 2020, and I attribute much of this to Rachel and her skilled leadership.

Congratulations to our new Board Chair, Ian Young, who will now lead this forward-thinking team. Ian is a licensed Anglican Priest who is in semi-retirement and offers the Board a wealth of experience in the church and extensive Board experience within a range of for profit and not-for-profit organisations. Ian is the second of our two South Australian Anglican School System appointments.

College Executive

I have been blessed in my first year here to have been working closely with a particularly talented College Executive: Andrew Panozzo (Deputy Principal and Director of Teaching and Learning), Mark McLaren (Business Manager), Belinda Delyster (Dean of Senior Students), Melanie Scott (Campus Coordinator) and Louise Davies (ELC Director). Next year we welcome Nick Smith (Head of Junior School) and Scott McGregor (Head of Middle School) to this leadership team.

Important Dates to Note

Lessons conclude on Wednesday 9 December and resume on Wednesday 27 January. Please note that our Administration/Finance Offices close on Friday 18 December and reopen on Monday 11 January.

Our Early Learners Centre will be closed on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December. The ELC Vacation Care Program will run from Monday 14 December to Friday 18 December.
The Centre will then be closed from Monday 21 December, reopening on Thursday 14 January for the continuation of the ELC Vacation care Program.

Our Uniform Shop will be opening during the holidays and the exact times will be advertised shortly.

Best wishes to our Year 12s in their future endeavours as they are poised to achieve amazing things in their lives. SACE results are scheduled for release on 15 December.

Thank you!

Thank you so much for your tremendous support this year – it has been an absolute pleasure to be working in partnership with you.

Please take the time to read our impressive list of award winners below, who were scheduled to have been acknowledged at the Speech & Awards Ceremony last week (cancelled).

Wishing you a safe and blessed Christmas and we look forward to seeing you after a restful break.

John Robinson
Principal

2020 AWARDS

Our 2020 awards are divided onto four groups: Academic Endeavour Awards, Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards for each Year Level, Year Level Dux and Runner Up Dux Awards and Special Awards.

Academic Endeavour Awards are conferred to students who have been role-models of resilience, positive attitude and consistent effort in their studies.

Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards are determined by the results achieved during the year by each student in each subject area at the end of the Academic Year. These awards recognise that all subjects are important, and that all students have different skills and passions. They seek to reward all students who have excelled in their subjects as a means of approaching their “best self”. In recognition of different subject size and numbers, students from Year 5 to Year 12 who achieve A’s in half or more than half of their subjects will be awarded an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award.

Following the Academic Endeavour Award, and the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award at each year level, we recognise a Year Level Dux and Runner Up.

A number of Special Awards are conferred to students who contribute in a variety of ways to the life of the College. The College and Community Service Awards recognise those students who make a significant contribution to the life of the College outside of their academic work and/or work within the local community, such activities as Assemblies, Environment and General Contribution to the life of the College.

Special Awards

Father Allen Collett Award
This award has a long tradition in our College, having been established by Father Allan Collett, a local Anglican priest active in the early days of the College.  It is presented to a Year 7 student who, through their attitude and behaviour, best represents the Anglican ethos of the school within the community – an ambassador for Investigator College.

City of Victor Harbor Awards Year 12 Community Contribution Awards
Presented to a Year 12 student who has striven to contribute to both their College and the wider community during such a busy academic year.

See Optometry Award
This award, kindly sponsored by See Optometry, is presented to the Highest Achieving Year 12 Science student.

Victor Harbor & Port Elliot Lions Club Awards
Junior School Integrity Award, Middle School Encouragement Award and a Senior School Award for Academic Excellence.

Mayo Community Service Awards are presented to students at each participating schools in the Mayo electorate. They are awarded to students who demonstrate leadership amongst their peers, excellence in attitude and achievement, and are a strong and consistent participant in school and community activity.

Australian Defence Force Long Tan Awards
A Year 10 and Year 12 student will be recognized as showing great promise in becoming tomorrow’s leaders. This year the ADF have introduced a new award – the ADF Future Innovators Award, which will be presented to a Year 10 and Year 12 student who have demonstrated motivation, innovation and have achieved in a STEM related field.

Caltex All Rounder Award
Each year, Caltex Australia presents a select group of secondary students around Australia with the prestigious national secondary school award, the 2020 Caltex Best All Rounder Award. Students who receive this award do so for achieving excellence in a range of pursuits in the classroom, participating in House sport and in the College and broader community.

Congratulations to our 2020 Award Recipients: