Principal’s Update: Buses & Year 8 Electives

March 14, 2024  

Buses

Even before I started working at this school, I had received feedback from parents expressing their concerns about the Northern Suburbs School transport arrangements for the students. Since January 2024, the Operations and Facilities Manager, the Transport Manager and I have been working on ideas and solutions with the aim of improving the safety and reliability of the transport arrangements for our students.

The Illawarra Grammar School has been lobbying the State Government for well over ten years to have a dedicated school bus solution in line with other like schools in the Illawarra. Unfortunately, we have been informed that our most recent representations have, again, been rejected by Transport NSW.

Undaunted, we are now working on a partnership with Premier Illawarra (Premier Buses) to provide a charter service to cater for some of the far Northern Suburbs of the Illawarra. This will not be a door-to-door service, and it will incur a small cost per trip for the students; it will not replace the current TIGS Private Bus service. We anticipate having this trial service running from Term 2; I will communicate more specific details in the next newsletter. Next week, a survey will be sent to families who live in the area where this service would operate to gauge interest.

This trial will then lead to a wider-ranging review of the TIGS Transport service with a view to providing increased and improved services to our families from the start of 2025.

Year 8 Electives, 2025

Over the past few weeks, the Heads of Department, led by Mr Breheny, have been compiling the group of electives that will be available to Year 8 students in 2025.

The suite of electives will offer our range of languages together with new creative electives. Students will be asked to choose two of the following: Chinese, French, Grand Designs, Heroines and Heroes, Japanese, Jewellery Making, Musical Theatre, Visual Culture, Extra English and Finding Time (the latter two are by invitation only). These electives run for one year only; new electives are chosen for Years 9 and 10.

Further information about this exciting curricular initiative will be given to the current Year 7 students next term.

Next Week

I hope many of you are able to join us at the Parents’ Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday 20 March 2024 in the Library at 7.30 am.