Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

On Wednesday we celebrated the Opening College Mass and Ash Wednesday. I spoke to the students about how these might appear a contradiction as Ash Wednesday is somewhat sombre, as a reminder of our mortality, yet the Mass is a celebration and should be uplifting. The two however, combine well as reminder and preparation for the events of Holy Week coming in forty days. Just as Christ was tempted in the desert (this Sunday’s Gospel – Matt 4: 1-11) so we will each also be tempted in our daily lives. It is not the temptation that is wrong but whether we give into it. The preparation that we do in Lent might revolve around how our behaviour can change to support Christ entering into our lives. During Lent, we might make sacrifices to help us focus our thoughts and assistance on others or increase our partaking in prayer to provide an opportunity for Jesus to enter our hearts. This celebration helped us to move into Lent and I thank the many people who were involved in setting it up and carrying it out.

As many of you would be aware, the Catholic church changed the requirements for abstinence from consuming meat on a Friday during Lent a few years ago. The current obligation is the same as any Friday during the year. The law of common practice of penance states that this is fulfilled via any one of the following: Prayer (eg Mass attendance, Rosary, Bible reading), Self-Denial (eg abstinence from meat or sweets, limiting food or drink or entertainment and giving proceeds to the poor) or Helping others (eg elderly, lonely, bereaved, depressed). We have taken the decision this year that rather than dictating students are not to eat meat on Fridays during Lent (since it is the same as Fridays not during Lent), we will use the opportunity to educate them as to options and encourage them to make their own penance decisions (so they hopefully become more responsible for these). For this reason, on Fridays, we will not remove meat sales form the canteen but will aim to educate the students. We have however, asked the canteen to provide more non-meat options. The Bishop’s message regarding this has been reproduced later in this newsletter.

A reminder that our P&F AGM will be held next Tuesday 28 Feb at 7 pm, in Room I3. The AGM is an important event where parents can vote for a leadership team that will work closely with the senior college staff. During 2022, we did not have a permanent president and this year a number of the P&F leadership will not be standing for re-election as their children have finished at the College. I encourage parents to attend the meeting and to consider taking up a leadership role. The demands are quite small, and your impact will be very important. If we have sufficient time and interest, we will also have a tour of the refurbished Mathematics building.

Next Friday, March 3 is a pupil free day where our staff will be attending our first Staff Development Day for the year. We will be working on curriculum professional development around Growth Mindsets. This is the theme for 2023 where we have asked the staff and students to include positivity into their thinking. We will ask the question “what do I need to do in order to achieve a particular goal”? A reminder that these days are pupil free as all staff will be involved in the Professional Development.

Our Year 7, 2024 information evening will be held on Wednesday March 8 (Week 6) in the College Hall. This evening is designed to give prospective students and parents an understanding of what Mount Carmel is about, what we stand for and how we work. Enrolment packages will be available on the night and students and parents will have an opportunity to look through the College and visit faculty displays. The evening will start with KLA displays from 6:15 and an information session in the hall from 7pm. If you have a child in Year 6 or know someone who does, please mark this date in your diary.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio