Principal's Report
Dear parents, friends, staff and students,
Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption. This is the day where we recognise that Mary was taken to heaven, body and soul by Jesus. Mary is extremely important in the Catholic faith as she was completely human but gives us an example of a strong and committed person. I have explained in the past that Mary is often referred to as ‘Theotokos’; bearer of God, and that we should strive to also be bearers of God to those with who we come into contact. Mary is important to our community as she is our patron under the name of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For the Marists (Little brothers of Mary), there was one prayer that is central to their charism. It is the prayer of the Memorare and is a request to Mary to be with us in times of need and to intercede for us with God. On this special feast, I offer the Memorare below:
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Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. |
On Sunday, our College Captains and I attended the annual Campbelltown Catholic Club Mass held at Mary Immaculate parish, Eagle Vale. The Catholic Club Mass was celebrated by Bishop Brian and had attendees from 18 local catholic schools. Thank you to Gloria and Jacob for giving up part of their Sunday to represent the College.
Last Monday I attended a diocesan focus day working on the Continuous Catholic School Improvement (CCSI) framework. I was joined by two of our College Leadership Team (CLT) and principals and school leaders from across the diocese. These days are aimed at ensuring there is a common and collective drive toward improvement. On Thursday, we followed this up with our own Framework Planning Day with our whole CLT. Both of these days ensured alignment with our improvement plan and enabled us to evaluate how we are currently tracking in these. One of the affirmations was the fact that both our framework and that of the diocese align perfectly. Our two improvement goals; enhancing our sense of belonging, and our drive for improvement in learning, are still central to our work. We have identified areas where we are clearly improving (eg facilities and Pastoral Care) and some where we will need to place more energy before the end of the year (eg clarity in role descriptions and expectations). Thank you to those community members who have previously provided feedback through various surveys and interviews. These have been invaluable in helping us to evaluate our progress. We will continue to do this through the remainder of the year.
Next Tuesday, Aug 20, we will be holding our Term 3 Parents & Friends meeting. As always, all parents are invited to attend this meeting. I will give a building update and explanation of our next phase of growth. The meeting, as always, will start in I3 at 7pm.
Ite in Veritate
Mr Steve Lo Cascio