Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

Welcome back to Mount Carmel for 2025.

I especially welcome our new families and students who have joined our community and trust that your journey with us will be fruitful and positive.

This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 5: 1 – 11) recounts the story where Jesus asked Peter to cast the fishing nets over the side of the boat and the catch was so great that it almost sank the boat. This occurred after Peter and his crew had fished the entire morning without success. The Gospel is used to highlight the impact that this simple gesture had on Peter and encouraged him to follow Jesus. For us, the message may be twofold; what sign do we need to encourage us to follow Jesus’ teachings and way of life, and, do we recognise the success we might have when we act with the support of our God. As we start the new year, this opportunity for reflection can be a powerful way to stop and evaluate our path and our goals. With Jesus beside us, we will always be more successful than when we act on our own. 

As a result of the increased size of our Year 7 intake and the movement of staff at the end of last year, we welcome a number of new staff into our community at the start of 2025. Ms. Haylie Abela, Ms Isabella Altre, Mr Jack Brown, Ms Zoe Constantinou, Ms Cristina Curcio, Mr Brendan McMurdo, Ms Sarah McLean, Mr Nathan Meacham, Ms Nicola Morales, Ms Faughn Mulholland, Mr Adrian Simms, Mr Antonius Suitz and Ms Hayley D'Cunha. 2025 will also see the return of Ms Kate Marinkovic, Ms Belinda Brooks, Ms Mary Jackson, Mr George Czender, Mr Robert Janson & Mr William Taylor in part time or temporary roles.

We have also appointed some new and existing staff to promotions positions as indicated below:

Ms Tara Pontin (PDHPE Coordinator), Mr David Elias (Assistant PDHPE Coordinator), Mr Liam Campbell (Year 8 Coordinator), Ms Roseanne Taccone (Year 10 Coordinator), Ms Zoe Constantino (Assistant Maths Coordinator) and Mr Jay Hagan (Leader of Learning Curriculum Administration). This year, we have made the decision to appoint Assistant Year Coordinators to help look after the pastoral care of our students; Ms Fran Gramelis (Yr 7), Ms Sophie Heath (Yr 8), Ms Rebecca Hobbs (Yr 9), Mr Andrew Doodson (Yr 10), Ms Taylah Belgre (Yr 11) & Mr Robert Kawa (Yr 12). I welcome all our new staff and thank those for taking on new roles at Mount Carmel.

During the holidays, we have continued to improve the facilities via the establishment of a new junior TAS kitchen, the opening of our senior art space and college gym, temporary pastoral hub in the old science block and a larger senior area for our Year 12 students. Whilst we have been busy during the break, this will be the first time in three years that we have been able to start the year without major building occurring. This has led to a very smooth start and calm beginning to the year.