Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

In the middle of this week’s Gospel (Matthew 25; 31-46), Jesus uses the phrase; “In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me”. In these 22 words, Jesus succinctly sums up how we can eliminate war, hunger, poverty and many other evil things that penetrate our world. If we are able to consider how we treat others and why we might be able to treat them better and look after them, we might be able to act in a way that shows positivity and care for those around us. This is not just in terms of how we might act in relation to world conflicts, but more simply, might be how we react to an aggressive or dismissive comment made to us. It may be reflected in our behaviours following disappointment or sadness or even if we are arrogant or humble in victory. Our Catholic tradition continually asks us to consider our relationships with those around us and to think about how we might do things for those in need. In this way, if we look after our brothers, it is the same as looking after Jesus Himself.

This week it was announced that Mr Simon Huntly will continue in the role of Acting Assistant Principal at Mount Carmel for a further 12 months. Mr Huntly has done a praiseworthy job whilst in this role and has agreed to continue in order to enable us to advertise for the substantive position in the middle of next year, I thank Mr Huntly for his efforts and support in 2023 and for agreeing to continue for next year until we are able to appoint a permanent Assistant Principal.

On Monday of this week, I was invited to a zoom with the Director of Education CEDoW and the chairman of the Roger O’Sullivan Award from the Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP).  During this meeting, the chair began to praise Mount Carmel for our creation of the parent library and literacy initiative that Mrs Murphy and the English staff started a few years ago. He was particularly impressed that this initiative began with the passion of staff and was organic in its growth. He praised the fact that it was an initiative that recognised the fundamental role of parents as educators and was designed specifically to support parent literacy in an attempt to improve student outcomes. At the conclusion of this, he announced that Mount Carmel are the winners of the 2023 Roger O’Sullivan Award. This is an award determined by the CCSP from all submissions across NSW and the ACT including all catholic schools (primary and secondary, systemic and independent). The director expressed his gratitude and appreciation for this initiative and was also very positive in his praise.

Amongst other comments, the judges provided the following feedback for our school community: Student knowledge + parent knowledge + staff knowledge = Learning Partnerships and thus, improved outcomes. Parent Engagement in secondary falls sharply, as often does students’ engagement with literacy and this is a genuine initiative to share with parents the ‘language of learning’ and to support learning through a scaffold for learning-conversations & thus instilling a ‘love of learning’ – and even re-engaging families in reading.

Congratulations to Mrs Murphy for beginning this parent library and literacy and for all parents who have supported and participated in the initiative. There will be some further promotion of this award at the start of next year and we hope the connection to parents will grow in 2024.

Today we held our Year 11 Academic Awards and badging of Year 12 as student leaders. This ceremony is an important celebration of student achievement and student responsibility. It is also very important that the rest of the student body shares in the joy of student success and has a goal to strive toward. Congratulations to our award winners and to the Year 12 cohort who today formally become our student leaders.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio