May, 2026

Trinity College has been recognised nationally with an Excellence Award at the 2026 Australian Education Awards that were announced on Monday this week. 

Submissions for these awards focus on the achievements and results from the previous 12 months of schooling. The Australian Education Awards team review submissions from hundreds of schools, draw on industry knowledge and information to identify the outstanding schools and individuals in each category that they consider would be worthy of an “Excellence Award”. The team create a short list per category and an independent panel of judges, comprising of education industry leaders and senior representatives make final decisions. 

Head of Trinity College, Mr Nick Hately said “I am incredibly proud of this award as our college was named a winner in this category in 2025.  Back-to-back recognition for Best Use of Technology is very affirming of our investment to resourcing, staffing and innovative design to create the best outcomes for students.”

“To be acknowledged once again in this category clearly reinforces that Trinity is on the right path to be an innovator in the world of education for students and staff.” 

When the judges were considering the Best Use of Technology category the criteria included how the technology has fulfilled a need in or outside the classroom, the impact of the technology on the school, and the change management and implementation process. 

Throughout 2025, the 360 Theatre at the Trinity Innovation and Creativity School (TICS) played a central role in delivering immersive learning experiences for students across the College. The Igloo Vision upgrade transformed an established space into a high-impact, future-focused learning environment and exemplified best practice in the use of educational technology.

The Igloo Vision upgrade expanded the theatre’s capability as a shared, fully immersive learning space where students from Preschool to Year 12 engage with curriculum content as both participants and creators. Learners can explore oceanic ecosystems, launch into space, step inside favourite stories and travel across the globe. The technology supports whole-class immersion, collaborative discussion and reflective learning - experiences not achievable through traditional classroom tools.

For our youngest learners, the theatre supports literacy and creative storytelling. Year 2 students collaboratively extend The Gruffalo by narrating and enacting new chapters within an immersive story environment, fostering oral language, imagination and engagement. The space is also used for reflective and culturally responsive learning, including Reconciliation Week experiences where students collaboratively developed a class Acknowledgement of Country.

Middle Years students use the theatre for virtual global exploration, while for Senior students it is a specialist development space to design, test and refine interactive games.

What distinguishes Trinity College is the integration of the upgraded Igloo Vision theatre into an age-appropriate STEM journey, uniquely enhancing engagement, creativity and authentic learning.

The best in Australia winners will be announced in August this year. 

The Trinity Open A basketball team is one of eight teams invited to the NBA Rising Stars Invitational tournament in Melbourne this weekend.

The NBA Rising Stars Invitational Australia Qualifiers is a new, three-day high-school basketball tournament jointly delivered by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Basketball Magic, the Australian sports management company that operates the NBA Basketball School Australia.

Running from Friday 8 May until Sunday 10 May at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South, Melbourne, the event will crown the boys' and girls' teams that earn the right to represent Australia at the second annual NBA Rising Stars Invitational in Singapore in June 2026.

The Qualifiers sit inside a much bigger picture. The NBA Rising Stars Invitational is the league's first regional high-school basketball tournament, bringing together boys' and girls' teams from across the Asia-Pacific. By creating a dedicated Australian gateway, the NBA is formalising a competitive pathway that previously did not exist for Australia's elite school programs.

The event will feature eight boys' teams and five girls' teams selected from across the country in collaboration with Basketball Australia. The format follows a clean, pressure-tested structure:

• Friday 8 May – pool play group games to seed the bracket
• Saturday 9 May – single-elimination quarterfinals and semifinals
• Sunday 10 May – single-elimination finals to determine the boys' and girls' champions

The entire tournament will be livestreamed on the NBA Rising Stars Invitational YouTube page, ensuring families, scouts and supporters around the country can follow every possession.

Over the past weekend 52 students and six staff travelled to Mount Gambier to attend Generations in Jazz, joining over 5000 students from across the country at the biggest school music festival in the southern hemisphere.

Our students represented our College beautifully with kindness, spirit and pride.

A huge congratulations to Jean Li (Year 11) who was selected for the Superband and to our Stage Band 1 trumpet section who won Best Trumpet Section for their division. 

Both Stage Bands performed exceptionally well and while they didn’t achieve a place this year, all band members continue to grow and develop their skills and experience. 

After last year’s win, the Jazz Vocal Ensemble took on the challenge of stepping up into the next division and held their own amongst the best choirs in Australia, which was an achievement in itself!

Special thanks to Charlotte Newhouse and David Shigrov for their commitment and expertise in leading the Stage Bands as well as volunteers Elise Moyle, Heidi Chamberlain and Angela Girgolas for accompanying us on the trip.

Thanks also to bus drivers Uri, Anthony and Brink for all your behind the scenes work and help. 

Please congratulate the students involved, I am sure they have many stories from the weekend to share. 

Coming up in Term 2 we celebrate our concert bands at Trinity Plays and our choirs at Trinity Sings. Both are sure to be fabulous nights of music and we hope to see many of our community supporting our music students!

Source: Kristy Triantafilakis, Director of Performing Arts