Iona Presentation College

From the College Leadership Team

Over the past few months there has been much discussion and planning undertaken preparing for re-amalgamation of the Junior School and the College at the start of 2018.

I would like to share with you an update on our planning:

• The strategic and operational planning for the transition into a single Pre-K to Year 12 College is well underway; identifying those areas of governance, operation, policy and procedure that will be addressed in the short and long term;
• We have advertised for the appointment of the new Head of Junior School. The Head of Junior School will be a member of the College Leadership Team and responsible for the overall academic, pastoral care, spiritual and co-curricular programs delivered by the Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6 teaching team. This person will be based at the Buckland Avenue campus. I look forward to announcing the successful candidate by the end of September;

• In addition, we have advertised for the roles of Director of Sport, Director of Music and Director of Performing Arts. These positions will have overall responsibility for their disciplines from Kindergarten to Year 12, and in particular, the co-curricular programs on offer to our students;

• To reinforce that we will be one College from 2018 onwards, we will refer to our physical school locations as the Buckland Campus and Palmerston Campus. We will use these titles while we continue to explore whether other campus names could be selected whilst continuing to respect our heritage;

• EIW Architects, together with a specialist nature landscape architect, have been appointed to develop a master plan for the Buckland Avenue Campus;

• You will see the tagline 'Making a difference, together' in various forms of school marketing over the coming months. We think it speaks to our inward task of re-amalgamation, and our outward mission of each of us, together, bringing the change of good into our communities;

• In 2018, we will reintroduce a school-provided 1-to-1 program from Years 4 to 6. Students will be issued with a new device at the start of Year 4, Year 7 and Year 10. The current Year 4 and 5 students will continue to use their laptops purchased directly by parents, and this will continue until the end of Year 6. We will hold an information evening in early November to cover the new ICT arrangements, and answer any questions parents may have;

• An area that has been reviewed is the combined College's budget and financial structure for 2018 and beyond. The harmonisation of the two schools' fee policy is a priority. While the final amounts for the various fees and charges will not be finalised until the Board approves the 2018 budget for the combined College in November, I can share the following:
  • From the start of 2018, there will be a single application fee of $150 for lodging a new application for entry into any year at the College;
  • The current fee paid to secure a place at the College when offered, will remain at $600 to secure a position in Kindergarten through to Year 4, and $950 to secure a position in Year 5 to Year 12. This recognises the financial commitments previously made by Iona families and fairness for those families whose boys leave at the end of Year 4, and for those families whose daughters join in Year 5;
  • Where possible, there will be no increase in the Pre-Primary to Year 6 tuition fee in 2018;
  • The new sibling discount rates of 10% for a second student, 20% for a third and 30% for a fourth and subsequent student will apply across Pre-Primary to Year 12;
  • The Building Levy of $950 per family will still apply for those families that have students across Kindergarten to Year 6. Once a student is in Year 7 to Year 12, the College's Facility Fee (which incorporates the building levy as well as other facility charges) of $1,990 will apply.

I look forward to sharing further updates with you, and as always, welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Anne Pitos

BAppSc, GradDipEd, MEdL, MACE

Principal