Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

On Friday we acknowledged (in a COVID friendly way) the feast of St Teresa of Avila. St Teresa was a Carmelite nun who had a huge impact on the development of the Carmelite community. This is especially relevant to us in our context. As a College named after Our Lady of Mount Carmel and founded on Carmelite land, this is a charism important to the way we do things. Our College incorporates the beautiful traditions of the Carmelite and Marist orders and we gain from the underlying values of both of these. Many of our students are very familiar with the Marist characteristics and these align closely to those of the Carmelites. One of the most famous quotes of St Teresa directs us toward her values:

Christ has no body now but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

This clearly tells us that we have a duty to be the mechanism with which Christ becomes present in our world. If we are not prepared to do His work, we are not living the foundation of our Carmelite values. 

This week I invited students, teachers and parents to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process. 

I would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at Mount Carmel Catholic College. The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The link was sent out to parents via a letter distributed on Monday. If you have not completed this, you are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:

www.tellthemfromme.com/mcv20

At the end of last term, we were informed that one of our HSC students had been nominated for Encore (the best music performances). This week we were informed that two students have been nominated for Artexpress (the best artworks). This is the first stage of being acknowledged as amongst the best HSC works in the state. Regardless of whether these works reach the exhibition stage, to be nominated is an honour. Congratulations and the best of wishes to all of our HSC students as the exams commence on Tuesday.

Over the past few months, Bishop Brian has been celebrating Sunday Mass and livestreaming it. These Masses each Sunday and can be accessed here.

Mr Steve Lo Cascio