Welcome back to our students. It was fantastic to see the smiling faces and energy of the Year 7 – 11 students returning last Monday. On the first day we had a 96% attendance rate and students were very conscious and cooperative in ensuring our health requests were being followed. I thank all students for their continued mask wearing and cooperation regarding remaining in their designated areas and not sharing equipment at recess. As directives change, the students will be notified. Some of these are in Mr Cloran’s section of this newsletter.

Next Monday (November 1) is All Saints Day with Tuesday being All Souls Day. In the Catholic tradition, we remember and celebrate all those who have gone before us and have moved to eternal life. We often avoid discussing or referring to death for fear that we might bring up sad memories for those around us. Of course, death does raise emotions of loss and grief, but the remembrance celebrated next week with All Saints and All Souls helps us to focus on the gift of the opportunity to join back with God after this life. Our faith holds that we are a people of hope and that this hope is based on the understanding that God will look after those who are faithful to His teachings. The knowledge that we always have the option of repentance and full forgiveness is also a basic belief of our faith. For each of us, this belief is what fuels our hope in reuniting fully with God at the end of our life on earth. For those who have already died we pray; 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
May Your perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Today we celebrated World Teacher’s Day. Each year, we take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the teachers for the work that they do with our students. During the remote learning period, I received many emails and comments expressing appreciation to the staff for the work they do and the care they take in giving opportunities for excellence to your children. On behalf of the community, I thank the teachers and wish them a happy World Teachers’ Day.

During this week we have had our HSC students collecting their final portfolios. Unfortunately, very clear health directives were given that prohibited any graduations, formals or farewell ceremonies prior to December 3. This was to reduce the possibility of COVID spread as a result of this type of event. Following consultation with the Student Representative Council, the decision was made to make the portfolios available as some students may wish to use these in their applications for employment or university entry. We will be building the major awards into the formal which is planned for early December. I would like to congratulate our Year 12 students on their maturity in disappointment and assure them that they have the full support of the Mount Carmel community as they complete their final preparations before the HSC exams.

On Tuesday November 9, we will be holding our next Parents and Friend’s meeting for 2021. This meeting will be the final one for the year and will once again be held via zoom. I encourage parents to join into this meeting. It will begin at 7pm and can be accessed by:

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:

https://dowcatholic.zoom.us/j/62597895255?pwd=Y283OHRjRmtMcE9yUXo5UFZSYUF1dz09
Password: s8DY7NO9

As always, a very big thank you to the staff, students and parents for your flexibility and ongoing support during remote learning.