This weekend is the feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ). Just as last weekend revealed a central belief of our faith (that of the Holy Trinity), this week reminds us of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This is an important difference between Catholic belief and that of many other Christian traditions. For Catholics, the Eucharist is not just a symbol of God during the Mass, but is actually God. We believe that the bread is transformed at the consecration during the mass and when we receive Holy Communion, God is physically and really present within that host. For many, this is a little difficult to understand. Our limited human understanding cannot explain the mystery of God but that is actually a strength of our faith. The beauty of the mystery of the Eucharist enables us to accept that God is with us not just symbolically but in real and physical ways.

Last weekend eight senior students accompanied by Ms Nguyen attended the Marist Senior Mission Forum. They were given the opportunity to reflect on social justice issues and initiatives and to consider how they might become more involved in these. Students from a number of Marist schools were present and by all accounts it was a very productive and valuable weekend. Congratulations to the students and thank you to Ms Nguyen who organised and attended the event.

Last Tuesday evening we held our Term 2 P&F evening. Thank you to those who attended and joined us for a walk around of the new STEM building. Mr Huntly and I were able to take parents to one of our older classrooms, one of our refurbished classrooms and the new building. It was wonderful to be able to explain the change in how teaching happens and some of our ideas behind the design of the buildings and rooms. We hope to be able to host a few upcoming information nights in the new facilities so that parents get to see these. The builders have well and truly taken possession of the next stage and blocks G & H are all but demolished. We look forward to the open space that will hopefully be completed and handed back sometime in Term 3.

On Wednesday, we held the Year 11 Parent/Teacher/Student evening. There was a strong turnout and teachers were able to discuss the students’ progress and offer suggestions for improvement. These are vital in ensuring partnerships for improved student learning. We will hold the Year 7 – 10 meetings at the end of this term and I encourage parents to attend.

Tomorrow our staff will all be out at our Term 2 staff development day which will be focussed on our spirituality. As stated last week, these are important opportunities for staff to explore their own faith formation in terms of mission and how this might support our students in a positive way. As always, I am conscious of the impact of these pupil free days on parents and students and appreciate your support for these vital days. They also provide an opportunity in the middle of term for students to stop and take a breath.

Earlier this week I understand that all parents were sent an email offering the opportunity to contribute to an appraisal of my principalship over the past four years. Please note that this is specifically on me rather than the school or other school leaders. This was a survey I indicated over the last few newsletters that would be given. I would greatly appreciate your feedback and encourage you to complete the survey. This will be used in conjunction with other information gained from surveys, interviews and professional development data. Thank you for those who may already have responded and for those who have not, please consider providing feedback.

Ite in Veritate