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

The Responsorial psalm from last weekend’s masses was the phrase:

“Go out to all the world and tell the Good News”.

As with many of the readings or responses from mass each weekend, there are often things that may speak to us or be relevant in our life during the following week. This may be one way that the Holy Spirit talks to us or guides us in our day. For Mount Carmel as a College, this message became relevant via discussions and opportunities that occurred during this week. From the Year 12 Conversation with the Bishop, to the Staff Development Day on Pastoral Care and wellbeing of our students to the Live festival, members of our College engage with each other and the wider community to ensure that we share the Good News. Each of these events is crucial to spreading the message of Christ.

On Tuesday our Year 12 students attended the Conversation with the Bishop. This is an annual event where students are given the opportunity to meet with Bishop Brian Mascord and discuss with him current issues. The Conversations are broken into regions with each meeting hosting three or four schools. This is a great opportunity for the students to not only meet with our bishop, but also to listen to the Catholic perspective on issues that may be important to them that they may not hear elsewhere. From all reports, our students engaged positively in this meeting and shone with their knowledge and ability to articulate their thoughts. I congratulate them for this and also their teachers who have contributed their knowledge and experience and also provided the environment for these students to shine. This meeting exhibits our philosophy of being a Christ-centred community that promotes opportunities for excellence.

Tuesday also saw the formal start of the HSC exam period at Mount Carmel with the marking of the Industrial Technology major works. As always, many of our students contributed enormous levels of effort and a solid workload to present great works. I am sure there was also many a late hour toward the end where catch up or final detail was added. For the students who put regular work into their submission, the final outcome will be much more rewarding and reflect their overall abilities. I remind all the students that this regular work can develop into routines and habits which will set them up for success later in life. All students are again encouraged to build these habits as early as possible.

Wednesday evening also saw the presentation of the electives evening for our Year 8 students. This evening is an important start to the process for choosing electives for Years 9 and 10 and helping them to develop an interest beyond compulsory subjects. I thank the staff and KLA Coordinators for their presence on the night and the work that goes into ensuring a variety of options for our students. A very big thank you to Ms Tolomeo for her overall organisation of this process and her experience and detail on the evening. I am sure our students will now have much to consider in making their decisions.

On Friday we held our Term 3 Staff Development Day (Pupil Free Day). The focus of this day was on Pastoral Care and Wellbeing within the College and how this enhances the overall development of our students. This also contributes to improved learning. The opportunity for us to devote an entire day as a whole staff to these processes and discussion is invaluable and whilst I recognise this may be a change of routine for many parents, I thank you for your support. 

Friday also saw over 50 students and 4 staff attend the ‘Live’ festival held at Wollongong Entertainment centre. This is a great opportunity for our senior students to build on their own faith development and spirituality. Our students participated in this with great enthusiasm and I was extremely impressed with the numbers and attitudes of the students, given that they sacrificed a pupil free day in order to attend. This is truly a testament to the Christ-centred approach of the community and the opportunities that our students are given and take. Congratulations to the staff in attendance (Ms Toogood, Mr Pletikosa, Ms Miller and Mr Barbera) but especially to Ms Toogood for her ongoing promotion and support of Youth Ministry in the College.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio

Principal