Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

During this week, the Catholic church celebrated the feast of two special saints. The first of these was St Patrick (March 17) and the second was St Joseph (March 19). Much has been written about St Patrick over the years but this year, the feast of St Joseph is more relevant. At the end of 2020, Pope Francis declared 2021 as the Year of St Joseph. In his Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde (with a father’s heart), Pope Francis spoke of a loving, courageous and obedient father but importantly one who worked in the background. St Joseph is rarely mentioned in the New Testament but is fundamental in protecting Jesus and Mary in the early stages of Jesus’ life. It is his ‘ordinariness’ that makes him extraordinary. St Joseph accepted God’s invitation to stay with Mary and then take her to safety after Jesus’ birth. He is variously known as the Patron saint of the Catholic church, fathers, pregnant mothers, workers, migrants, house hunters and of a happy death. We are encouraged to emulate St Joseph’s quiet but courageous determination to protect those around us. For more information on St Joseph, please visit the Diocese of Wollongong website here.

The Year 7 Camp has been occurring over the past few days. This year, the students spent 1 ½ days at Teen Ranch and the other 1 ½ days completing activities at the College. This is an opportunity for the students to get to know each other and hopefully settle a little easier into their high school life. The activities are designed to present them with a range of opportunities and challenges. A huge thank you to the staff who gave up their time to organise and run this camp. A special thank you to Ms Jones and Mr Harrison for looking after our young charges over the three days. 

Year 12 Parent/Teacher/Student meetings will be held on the evening of Wednesday March 31. More information will be given to the Year 12 students and their parents as this date draws closer. We have taken the decision that these meetings will be face to face as these students missed out on this last year and as this is their final year, this will be one of the last opportunities for our Year 12 students and parents to meet with their teachers. We are still in discussions around how the junior meetings will be held later in the year and are considering a mixture of face to face and zoom opportunities. I will communicate more with parents around this during term 2.

One of our College strategic priorities over the last two years has been around feedback. This is not only feedback that we give to students but also the feedback that we take in order to get improvement in our processes and teaching. Over the next few weeks, students will be given some opportunities to feedback to some of their teachers using the PIVOT survey. The Diocese is also interested in gaining feedback around its strategic direction and will issue a survey to gain this. As a College, next term we will be asking for feedback around what we do via the ‘Tell Them From Me’ survey. Each of these things are a valuable way for parents, students and staff to reflect on what we do and how we do it. Please look out for these opportunities as they arise over the next few months and know that we will be grateful for the appropriate feedback.

Please remember that Year 7, 2022 enrolment applications are due to be returned to the College by Thursday 1 April (the last day of this term). If you are considering applying, or know someone who is, please ensure the applications arrive by this date.

Mr Steve Lo Cascio