Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students of Mount Carmel, 

A very warm welcome back to both a new school term and the commencement of Semester Two here at Mount Carmel Catholic College. I write to you at the conclusion of a very busy week here at the College, which culminated this morning in the celebration of our annual Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mass. Once again, this was a great opportunity to come together as a community to celebrate our Carmelite foundations which permeate so many facets of College life here at Mount Carmel. At the outset this week, I take the opportunity to thank Father Shane for his tireless support of the liturgical life of the College, and extend this thanks to members of our community who were able to join us this morning in our celebration of the Eucharist. 

At the conclusion of this morning’s celebration it was my pleasure to announce the recipients of the 2019 Mount Carmel Awards. These awards are presented to staff members at the College who have reached particular milestones in terms of their service to the College community. I take the opportunity once again to congratulate Mrs Rayghaan Kasmani who was acknowledged for 10 years of service, and to Mrs Therona Govender who was acknowledged for an extraordinary 20 years of service to Mount Carmel Catholic College. The final award for this year was the Mount Carmel Parent Award and it was my pleasure to present this to Mrs Helen Atkins for her ongoing service in so many capacities for the students, staff and community of Mount Carmel, particularly via her coordination of the secondhand uniform shop and the P&F committee. 

With the new school term now officially underway, I would once again encourage all students to take a moment to consider their academic performance over the first half of 2019. By all means, be very proud of your successes, but also consider ways whereby you may be able to renew your focus for Semester Two so that the progress you achieve aligns itself with your academic potential. 

The term ahead will see our Year 7 cohort continue their, what has been to this point,  successful transition into secondary education. Years 8 and 9 will undertake a subject selection process that will determine the study of two elective subjects in 2020. Year 10 students will conclude their subject selection process which will determine their entire pattern of study for the 2021 HSC. Year 11 will conclude their Preliminary Course which culminates in their Preliminary Examinations in Week 9, while in just over a week, our graduating class of 2019 will commence their Trial HSC Examinations before concluding their course work and HSC preparations towards the end of this term. By any measure, it is certainly a busy term ahead for all students here at the College. 

As most of you would be aware, our College Principal Mr Steve Lo Cascio will be continuing his recovery across the first few weeks of Term 3 with a view to rejoining our community in the near future. I would ask you to keep Mr Lo Cascio in your prayers at this time, along with all the other members of our school community who are unwell. 

Wishing you all the very best as the new term and semester gets underway.

David Cloran

Acting Principal