Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

In this week’s gospel (John 6: 51-58), Jesus states “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him”. This Sunday is the feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ). One of the beliefs unique to Catholicism is the nature of the ‘real presence’ at Mass. This means that we believe that at the consecration, the bread and wine on the altar is literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ. It is not symbolic but a ‘real change’. This enables us to consume the body and blood of Christ and, as we are told in the quote above, we are able to live in Christ and He in us. How this occurs is a mystery to our mind and is a miracle of the Mass. For each of us, it however gives us access to a direct link to be part of God and to allow God to be part of us.

Today our College community celebrated Champagnat Day. These community days are important for us to come together in a more relaxed atmosphere and interact outside the normal classroom setting. As always, the day started with a Mass and awards presentation for those students who encapsulate what it means to live by the values to which we aspire. A small number of our students received gold awards which means that they have previously received the silver and bronze. These students have consistently delivered on the expectations of good behaviour and building positive relationships with other students and staff. Congratulations to all our award winners and to all students who fully participated in this event.

On the day we also recognised staff who have reached milestones in Marist education and the students also raised money for Marist causes overseas. Many schools use this day to support our schools in less developed areas and therefore carry the Marist characteristic of family spirit into action. A huge thank you to all the staff and students who were involved in the organisation of the day but a very special thank you to Ms Toogood who went far beyond her role to effectively organise most of the day. Without this commitment, the result would not have been so successful. Congratulations and thank you.

Over the past few weeks, we have been stretched with staff absences and the inability to access casual teaching staff. This has been a difficulty across schools this year and we had avoided large scale supervision of multiple classes until this past fortnight. On the whole, most students have been very cooperative and have worked well in these larger groups. This is not our preference and is less than ideal, however, in discussions with colleague principals, we were able to hold out on doing this longer than many. We are working toward accessing more casuals and hoping that the current spreading of illness amongst staff will ease. We are looking to ensure solid learning still occurs in an environment of safety and care.

Over the past few months, we have had a number of issues with the junior girl’s and boy’s toilets. Much of this stems from the inability of staff to easily see into the common areas in the toilets and who is gathering in them. We are looking to open new junior boy’s toilets when the senior girls move to the new amenities block at the top of the school. Following discussion with the College Captains and P&F, I will be looking to improve general supervision by placing ventilation grates at the end of the corridor which runs between the cubicles, install new lighting and re-paint. This will ensure staff can see into the corridor and will be able to supervise more appropriately. The aim is to complete these works during the next holidays.

Earlier this week, I emailed a letter to all parents regarding concerns around Tik Tok. Last weekend, we became aware that a small number of students were involved in creating or commenting on content that identifies the College or staff or students and is inappropriate in nature. Whilst I have no doubt that the posts were the result of a small number of students, their nature goes against what we stand for at Mount Carmel. We continue to work with authorities outside the school around these posts. Please discuss with your child the importance of responsible use of social media and the implications of using this resource poorly.

Finally, I wish all students and families a restful long weekend and trust that the break will be well-used.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio