Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

Today we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Whilst the actual feast day was last Saturday, our community came together as one for a mass for the first time in over two years. Our hope had been to ensure this was a full celebration, however without any new health directives but increasing COVID case numbers, the decision was taken to gather for as short a time as possible and ask the students not to sing. We hope that by our next scheduled mass at the end of this year, we will be able to return to a full community celebration.

At this mass, I outlined the basis of the Carmelite charism. The six concepts they follow are the ideas of prayer, solitude, silence, asceticism, ministry and Mary. Put simply, it is a life of simplicity where we allow God to enter and help us to do His work. In the same way that Mary lived a life of devotion to her son, we can also live a life of ministry where our actions help to promote the values and example of Jesus Christ. This charism is in full communion with our foundations as a Marist school and we are enhanced by the ability to draw on both the Marist and Carmelite foundations.

Earlier today, I sent a letter to all parents outlining some proposals for the start of 2023. This letter explained changes to lesson lengths and requested feedback on proposals for a change to the start and conclusion times of the day, as well as possible changes to our senior school structure and finally, changes to the junior girls’ uniform. There was a link in this letter to a survey where parents have an opportunity to give their opinion and make further comment. I encourage all parents to feedback on these proposals by the end of next week so that we can determine the next step.

During the last term, we refurbished our space under the main administration block to relocate our uniform shops. These spaces have now been completed and I am pleased to inform parents that you can now access these shops without the need to walk through the College. To go to the new uniform shop, please walk up the path past the basketball courts and the shops are located underneath the admin building. Eventually, these shops will also have a history of the College displayed in the foyer so parents can understand a little of how the College has developed.

This week we welcome several staff to the College. Ms Josephine Jefferys has returned to join us as a permanent member of the HSIE faculty. Ms Jefferys was employed on a temporary basis last year and we have been fortunate to have her return. Ms Sheldon Woodward is our new Science Lab assistant and has joined our college from private industry. Ms Woodward joins us as a permanent staff member and is a welcome addition to the science department. I am also pleased to announce that Ms Victoria Zullo has been appointed to a permanent position within the English faculty. Ms Zullo has been on staff for a few years and has now accepted a permanent role. I welcome each of these staff and thank them for their commitment in joining our community.

On Wednesday evening, our English staff will be hosting Year 7 parents to our first Parent Library evening. This is an initiative of Ms Murphy (our Literacy Instructional Coach) to support parent engagement and improve literacy levels and approaches amongst our students. This evening is also an initial response to requests from parents for more opportunities to become involved in the College. These requests were part of the Tell Them From Me survey that was conducted last term. We hope to have many opportunities in the future for parents to come onsite. I thank the English staff who have given up their evening to support this worthwhile initiative.

There has been much in the news lately regarding COVID numbers and health advice. We are yet to receive any directives regarding changes, however, we will continue to monitor trends and act on advice as it occurs. In the meantime, I encourage all students to wear masks where practical and ask them to maintain hand sanitising and safety practices.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio