Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday where Jesus entered the Holy City as a hero. Within a few days the mood of the crowd had turned against Him and He was to undergo humiliation, torture and execution. With His death on Good Friday, we reach the depths of despair and an acknowledgment that humanity is at a complete loss. The beauty of the Christian tradition, however, is that this death and despair is always followed by resurrection and new life.

Within the Catholic Church the resurrection of Jesus forms the most important event and celebration within our church calendar and is certainly one of the most impactful events in the history of humankind. The death and resurrection of Jesus mimics the ups and downs that occur within our normal life. As a people of hope we know that whatever trials we may be forced to face, there is always going to be the notion of love and life even if this takes the form of eternal salvation. It is an interesting reality that each year, Easter is soon followed by the memorial of ANZAC day. In many ways the notion of ANZACs also represent the idea of sacrifice for someone else. Just as our understanding that new life and new hope occurs following the resurrection, so too do we understand that the sacrifice of men and women defending what is right can also lead to new hope and new life. Over the coming two weeks I ask all within our community to take time to stop and reflect on the sacrifices of others and how those sacrifices and difficulties can lead to a better world for ourselves and those around us.

On Tuesday morning we had a number of members of the NSW police force challenge our senior students in a friendly basketball match. The police tried valiantly but were overcome by a far stronger team. It was lovely to have a friendly match and the students were invited to watch this before school. We have attempted before to have a friendly in soccer but this was disrupted by COVID lockdowns. We hope to continue these matches into the future.

As we move to the end of term 1, we farewell two staff who are leaving us to take up permanent appointments closer to home. The first of these is Ms Kelly James who has worked on staff as our Transition and Pathways Specialist and also in Diverse Learning and PDHPE. The second is Ms Andrea Terkalas, who has been on staff in a PDHPE role. Both of these staff will be missed and I take this opportunity to thank them for their service and support to the students and staff of Mount Carmel. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours and remind them that they will always be a part of our community.

As a result of Ms James move, Mr Daniels will be taking up the role of TAPS. Students should now be working with him in moving toward careers or transition through schooling support. I will be announcing our new staff at the start of next term.

Finally, I wish all in our community a very happy and refreshing Easter break. The idea of rest and contemplation builds beautifully to the arrival of new life and the energy that we hope will come back with students at the start of term 2.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio

Principal