The theme running through this Sunday’s readings revolves around the time when Jesus will return to make judgement on the world. This theme is not meant to scare or frighten us but to enable us to be prepared and ready. In our regular actions and thoughts, we need to be guided by the values of Jesus Christ and the message that He constantly gives around the care and love for others. As we come closer to the Christmas season and we prepare for the celebration of His birth, this reflection on our attitudes and approach to others takes on real meaning. As we move to the end of the mass cycle of ordinary time, a reminder of this preparation is particularly pertinent.

Today we held our Term 4 Staff Development. At this Professional Development, we invited a guest speaker, Dr Vyom Sharma, who engaged the staff with a discussion around planning for success. Dr Sharma has been a guest on shows such as The Panel and The Lounge Room and helped us to spark discussion around how we focus ourselves and our students to achieve goals. His involvement assisted us to develop strategies that will be used as we move to 60 minute lessons next year. This is a focus for the staff as part of our strategic planning. Once again, I thank parents and students for your understanding that these days are vital to ensure we provide contemporary and deep learning opportunities.

Earlier this week, we were advised that Jeremiah Myatt-Kane has had his artwork nominated for consideration for ArtExpress. ArtExpress is a showcase of the best artworks that were presented as a HSC major work. To be nominated for consideration is an outstanding achievement and we congratulate Jeremiah for this wonderful accolade.

Tonight, I will travel down to Wollongong to attend the Catholic Development Fund Sports’ Awards. A number of our students and teams will be recognised for exceptional achievements. In a few weeks, we will also have two students receive a NSWCCC Sporting Blue Award. This is only given to the outstanding sportsperson within a state team. Congratulations to Paula Zaballero and Blake Waugh on being awarded a Sporting Blue.

This week we started to see the initial movement on the new building project. The temporary fences were erected, and trees were cleared to start earthworks next week. In the Maths block, internal walls are being removed and electrical rewiring has started. Yesterday I met with the Facilities staff from Catholic Education, Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) to review the progress of our building program. Whilst this is in its very early stages, the discussion around timing and purchasing of new furniture has begun and we can now see some very exciting movement. I aim to keep the community informed as we progress, and I am happy to discuss this with members of the community.

On Tuesday evening, we held our last Parent Literacy evening and Parents and Friends’ meetings for the year. The parent evening was again run by the English staff and almost two dozen parents attended and walked away with armfuls of free books. They also had a very leisurely opportunity to speak with the English staff about the value of reading and the nature of some of the free books. The P&F were shown some plans for the building project and were given a brief outline of some of the changes for the start of 2023. Thank you to the English staff for giving their evening to be available to parents and for the parents who attended either the literacy evening or the P&F.

Today you would have received a letter regarding next week’s IEU Stop Work meeting. This will occur from 8:30 – 9:30 next Tuesday. School will run as normal however normal classes will not commence until 9:30.

Last Friday was the conclusion of the final HSC exam for 2022. A huge congratulations to the students who are now free of secondary study and to their teachers who can now breathe a little easier. Their formal occurs next week, and we look forward to our last formality with them.