Courage • Creativity • Resilience • Respect

Principal's Message

Welcome to the new school in Adelaide’s North East – Avenues College.

I would like to acknowledge that –

For thousands of years Indigenous people have walked in this land, on their country.  Their relationship with this land has been and still is at the centre of their lives. I want to acknowledge prior stewardship of this land by the Kaurna people, and the importance of this area as a meeting place for people from many nations over many years.

I am extremely proud to be the principal of Avenues College – a Birth to year 12 school.

We are creating a community of learners, with the following leadership team to help us:

                    Ms Upasana Srivastava – Head of Early Years (Community Programs and Preschool)

                    Ms Jenny Conn – Head of Primary Years (Reception to Year 6)

                    Ms Teresa Maiolo – Co-ordinator of the Centre of Deaf Education (CDE)

                    Ms Jen Geyer - Head of Middle Years (Year 7 to 9)

                    Mr Daniel Lasscock - Head of Aboriginal Ed. and Senior Years (Yr 10 to 12)

                    Ms Mari Terreri – Head of Wellbeing, B-12

                    Ms Danielle Smith – Business Manager, B-12

This school is the combination of 2 schools with a long history – Gilles Plains Primary School opened for its first students 116 years ago, in 1901; The secondary school opened (as Gilles Plains High School) in January 1960. The Gilles Plains Children’s Centre was created from the Gilles Plains Child Parent Centre, and opened in 2013.  We host senior students in the Wiltja School, and the Centre of Deaf Education students 8-12 has operated here for over 20 years.

All of our programs nurture high quality learning – based on the Early Years Learning Framework, the Australian Curriculum and the South Australian Certificate of Education.

Welcome to your school, and the opportunities that it offers to your children, to begin school, and develop with confidence on their learning journey beyond those early years to completion of their schooling, within nurturing and responsive relationships.

Hamish McDonald

Principal