Principal's message
End of 2025 message
Hi! I’m Justin Hong and I’m the very proud Principal of Northern Beaches Secondary College Cromer Campus.
So many amazing things have happened at our great school this year and I have been looking forward to sharing those with you!
We are getting a multi-purpose sports hall, planning is slow but it has progressed and you would have seen the posters at the entrance, if you missed them please check them out before you leave. Can I thank the P&C for their advocacy of that project.
Can I start by talking about an amazing achievement that I have been dying to share with you. Let me explain, the HSC for most of our students is the culmination of their academic achievements. Some subjects require a major work, or major practical project. These bodies of work are assessed by an independent team of markers that travel around our state each year, and each year they choose the very best projects and nominate them to be displayed somewhere as an acknowledgement and celebration of the very best work that students in NSW public schools are achieving. It is a very prestigious offer. So prestigious in fact that in my 11 years as Principal of Cromer Campus I have only received 2 of these. Principals receive an email from NESA after all of the projects are marked and these emails are rare. So this year we have received more than 1. But that could mean 2. No I am not going to stop at 2, 3, 4 or 5. I am going to go past 6, 7 and 8. Look I am obviously dragging this out, so let me jump straight to double figures, but I am not going to stop at 10, 11, 12 and I cant stop at 13 an unlucky number. This year our great school achieved 14 of these nominations. I received 14 of these emails, this is unbelievable. It gets better. Often when you receive nominations it is only from one subject. Our nominations have come from 4 different subjects: visual art, music, dance and industrial technology. There are few Principals in NSW from either public or private schools that can give the speech I just gave you. I am so proud of my teachers and of course our students that achieved this amazing feat. Thanks for letting me share that with you.
Another great HSC accomplishment in 2025 has involved for the first time ever, students being accelerated in 3 HSC courses. This year those students in year 11 sat their first year 12 HSC exam. They will receive that result this week and will now be better prepared to sit the rest of their HSC subjects next year when they are actually in year 12. I want to congratulate those students for their maturity and dedication to their studies, well done.
How great was our musical in 2025 “The school of rock”. The best school musical I have ever seen with nearly 150 students either acting, singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, designing sets, or working as part of the technical crew.
Following on from that, our Creative and Performing arts department concluded their year last week with an amazing showcase event held right here in our hall. We always invite our local primary schools and one of their teachers sent an overwhelmingly positive email, and I quote “Our kids took forever to walk back to school because discussing the concert and their favourite items was far more important than walking. It has really ignited their interest in Cromer Campus”.
School Spectacular this year which also showcases public education with over 500 students performing involved 30 of our students in dance, choir and the tech crew. It included Remington from year 8 who was a featured soloist, performing 3 solo pieces and Kate from year 10 was a featured drama ensemble member. This event will be televised on Channel 7 this Friday at 7pm. With 30 of our students involved and nearly 2500 schools in the state of NSW we are clearly punching well above our weight.
Speaking of television coverage this year our Pasifika students worked hard on their performances for the Haka Warriors program. This program involved 450 students from around the state and is a great program that promotes unity, respect, resilience, identity and leadership.
Our dancers have had an amazing year. In the recent Cheer con, every ensemble placed, with Hip-hop and our cheer team both crowned dance grand champions.
Our bands have performed at northern beaches instrumental festival, the concourse at Chatswood, the Sydney north concert hosted right here at Cromer Campus and many other venues throughout 2025. I am now going to give the understatement of 2025, our CAPA department have been busy.
The evening of celebration put on by the integrated studies faculty is always a highlight of our schools calendar. The talents, hard work and of course the teaching and learning was on show. Evidence of that hard work is shown by the number of our integrated studies students who are receiving awards tonight.
In the sporting arena, we are now making regional finals. In 2025, 6 teams in four sports: softball, touch football, netball and basketball. Individual accolades, have included a marked increase in the number of our students gaining state and national representation honours especially in athletics. Our HPGE program for talented sportsmen and women now supports 53 students in 2025.
Our teaching staff are also kicking goals with awards for an early career practitioner of the year, an executive directors award for excellence and I even heard Mr Reagan reading a community recognition statement in parliament for one of our long serving teachers.
2025 has been an incredible year for our school, I could talk for the next hour about the incredible accomplishments of our students and staff but I will stop there on 2025s accomplishments.
Moving forward to 2026, planning will continue for our new sports hall, our school will continue with its commitment to literacy and numeracy with some new initiatives including an emphasis on writing and bookwork. Learning conferences and student goal setting will definitely continue. This program where students choose their own goals and then talk to their parents and teachers about their achievements is lifting academic engagement across our school. This program is now being copied by other high schools and is a program that is setting our school apart from others. What I am most excited about next year is our schools journey towards finding alternative and authentic pathways for students other than an ATAR and the HSC. Additional staff have been employed, including a new head teacher position. This program is already having an impact with an increase in the number of students enrolling in school based apprenticeships and studying vocational courses at school, and in the process gaining recognised qualifications before graduation making our students even more ready for work and further training.
There is something very special about this school, this community, this teaching staff and of course our students. Next year, by enrolment, Cromer Campus will remain the largest public high school on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and for good reason. I cant wait for 2026.
It is my honour to conclude this address with some well-deserved thank you’s.
Let me start with the P&C led by the president Mrs Jackie Reavie. Unfortunately Jackie is in Tamworth with a work commitment and she wanted me to pass on her sincerest apologies. Thank you to Mrs Jenny Jones for stepping in for her tonight. I want to thank the P&C for their advocacy in 2025, advocacy for our new gym, for our working bees, for air conditioners and for their incredible support of the schools teachers. I don’t know of any other high school where the P&C organise thank you gifts for the teachers every year. Teaching is a rewarding but hard job and the P&C understand that. On behalf of my teachers and your children I want to sincerely thank the P&C for everything in 2025. Can you please join me in thanking the P&C.
To our incredible teachers and staff, they are responsible for the magic that occurs here daily. So much of what our teachers do comes from that desire to serve and make a positive difference for our students. We are blessed at Cromer to have so many committed, hard working and caring teachers and staff. Please join with me in thanking our staff and teachers.
To our parents, thank you for being our steadfast partners in education. Thank you for supporting your child’s education, their goals and our great school.
And finally, to our students, tonight is about celebrating you. Your hard work, determination, and resilience have brought us to this moment, and we are so proud of all you have achieved this year.
In closing can I thank everyone for the support of our great high school in 2025. I hope you all have an enjoyable, safe and restful festive season.
Justin Hong
Principal
