Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

This Sunday’s first reading (Isaiah 56:1.6-7) begins with the phrase;

“Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity”.

In our everyday life, we are often faced with challenges that require decisions that might easily go in a number of directions. In deciding one way, we will offend or hurt someone but if we decide another way, a different person or group will feel injured. Sometimes, it may be easy to follow the popular path even though we know it is wrong. Students will face peer pressure that may place them in this situation. As a Principal, I will sometimes be called to make decisions that I know will upset or offend. The yardstick that I return to is the quote above. If our decisions are based in justice and we remain true to our beliefs, we have acted with integrity. This will often be the best we can do and it is reassuring to know that this path is reflected in the values of Jesus.

Our Year 12 students completed their Trial HSC exams on Monday. These progressed well and the students will receive valuable feedback over the next few weeks that will help them build toward their final exams. As with all assessment, I encourage the students to use these as a growth opportunity to help determine where they can improve. As we have spoken about over the past year, our focus is not on what we can’t do, but on what we can do in order to achieve. Following the trials, the Year 12 students then completed a half day retreat reconnector on Tuesday. This was a welcome change from the pressure of the last few weeks and was well received by the students. Thank you to all staff involved with the exams, marking and the reconnector.

Last Tuesday, our P&F gathered for our Term 3 meeting. It was nice to see a few new faces and have the opportunity to answer questions from the group. Our guest speaker was Mr David Teuma (ICLT Coordinator) who delivered a presentation about technology use at the College and in particular Artificial Intelligence. Mr Teuma was invited to give the same presentation to the MISA Principals at our scheduled term 3 meeting on Thursday. Both the parents and the Principals were very interested in the approach being promoted at the College where we are looking for ways to embrace AI for the benefit of learning. We all acknowledge that this is very early in the use of AI and there is much to be done, but we are fortunate to have Mr Teuma who is passionate about technology as a way to improve learning.

On Wednesday evening, we held the Stage 5 subject selection information evening for our current Year 8 students. Whilst we were competing with another popular football event, we had a very good attendance and ensured we were complete with plenty of time. Thank you to the staff who gave their time to assist and to Ms Miller and Ms Toogood for their organisation and guidance.

Today our Term 3 Staff Development Pupil Free day was focussed on Wellbeing and Pastoral Care. It was a very positive learning opportunity for all the staff and we hope will lead to stronger relationship building with the students in the classrooms. Again, I recognise the disruption that these days might cause, and I thank all parents and students for your support.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio