The First Reading this Sunday is from the prophet Jeremiah (31: 31-34). It is a reading that refers to the fact that God will make a new covenant with his people and forgive them for their sins. Of course, this new covenant is that which is born through the sacrifice of Jesus at Easter. There is however, one phrase that jumps out at me when I hear this reading. It is the phrase; “Deep within them I will plant my law, writing it on their hearts. Whilst I do not claim to be a theologian or an expert on the Old Testament, this phrase gives me a sense of calmness and satisfaction. It suggests to me that deep down, within our hearts, we all know what is right, and what Jesus’ message is. The idea that our understanding of right and wrong is ingrained, stems from the belief that each of us is made in the image of God and therefore we have value simply by the fact that we are human. In our relationships with each other, we know that God is in the other and we also know what is right because it is written on our hearts.

On Wednesday evening, Tyrone Austin attended the MacArthur Workplace Learning Program (MWLP) awards held at the Campbelltown Catholic Club. Tyrone had been nominated for an award by his workplace employer following his placement for Hospitality. To be nominated for an award is an achievement in itself, but Tyrone was announced as the winner. This is an extraordinary achievement since he was against students from the Macarthur and Illawarra as well as those from Trade Training Centres as far away as Burwood. Congratulations to Tyrone and to his teachers, Mrs Cox and Mrs Woolley and to the VET Coordinator Mr Clarke.

On the same evening, Mr Teuma presented an ICLT evening for parents at the College. We hosted over 35 people at this event and Mr Teuma spoke of the emergence of AI as well as some of the concerns that parents might have regarding their child’s use of technology. At the end, Mr Teuma offered an opportunity later in the year to run an evening teaching parents how to use iMovie. Quite a few were interested in this so we will look into this as an option moving forward. Thank you to Mr Teuma for his presentation and to our parents and students who attended.

This week our Year 9 and 10 students completed their NAPLAN assessments. This is a little earlier than previous years and we are advised we should get the results quicker. This will assist us in planning and programming for our students’ needs. We intentionally do not change any of our practices leading into NAPLAN as we use it as a snapshot on how the students are able to display their skills at that point in time. Thank you to all the staff for their efforts and their organisation of NAPLAN.

A reminder that we are now accepting enrolment applications for Year 7, 2025. Applicants are encouraged to ensure all documentation is included with the application prior to it being lodged. The due date for applications is 2pm on April 12 (the last day of term 1).