I take the opportunity this week to congratulate our Year 11 students who will conclude their Preliminary Examinations this coming Tuesday. Their preparation and approach to these exams has been most impressive and will certainly place them in good stead for the challenges that they will face as they commence the HSC course from the beginning of next term. I also remind parents and students that the Year 12 2023 Information Evening is being held on Monday 10 October which is the first day back next term.

As you would know by now, the Prime Minister called a National Day of Mourning for this coming Thursday 22 September. A reminder that this means that the College will be closed on this day and that no supervision will be available.

Towards the end of last week, we circulated the new COVID directives that will govern the remainder of Term 3 and the start of Term 4. The most significant of these is consistent with the broader community directives that have seen the self-isolation period for positive COVID cases reduce from 7 days to 5, providing the individual is symptom free. For clarity, I offer the following reminders that were announced:

From last Monday 12 September (Week 9, Term 3), staff, students and visitors who test positive to COVID-19 must:

• Complete 5 days of isolation from the date they tested positive;
• Be symptom-free before returning to school (if symptoms remain after day 5, they must continue self-isolating and follow NSW Health guidelines);
• Receive a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) result before attending school after their isolation period is complete (the result does NOT need to be provided to the school);
• Wear a mask on days 6 and 7 when attending school (for all staff and for students aged 12 years and older).

All the best for the week ahead,