Principal's Report
Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students of Mount Carmel,
As always, the Gospels that are read at Mass each Sunday will often have multiple messages that help to guide our lives or give us some direction. In the Gospel last Sunday (Luke 14: 25-33), one of the messages that came out was about setting priorities and using the skills of patience and planning. In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus says that we must be willing to put God before all other things. In the second part, He refers to the builder who plans his tower and makes sure he has enough money to finish it. Reflection and planning is an important method of ensuring that we meet our goals and don’t have to abandon a project half way through. Once we get into the habit of planning, it is one of those things that then comes naturally, but we need to give ourselves the time to stop and do this. Within our faith, this stopping and planning is often an opportunity for God to speak to us and work through us. Taking a calm, considered and thoughtful approach to what we do will often pay dividends far beyond what we expect. I encourage all students to build planning and preparation as well as calmness and reflection into all that they do.
Over the past month or so, the College undertook the Leadership Development process for our Year 11 students. This formally begins with a two day program where the whole group completes activities and builds relationships aimed at developing their skills as leaders. From this, there is the awareness that the whole cohort are leaders within the College and take on the responsibilities associated with this. These days then lead into the students and staff providing input which helps us to select 12 young women and men who will take on the formal leadership portfolios of the Student Representative Council (SRC). Following another day with these students and the outgoing SRC, each of the students is then allocated an area of responsibility that they are asked to take on for the following year. Following this intensive process I have the pleasure of announcing the SRC and their formal roles for 2020:
Captains
- Emma Jones & Jaden Legaspi
Social Justice / Environment
- Beyonce Bennett (VC) & Jordan McManus (VC)
Spirituality
- Jireh Alivio & Anthony Wicks
Academic
- Mia Asuit & Lincoln Atkins
Cultural
- Zarina Pereira & Brandon Tannoury
Sport
- Marlou Mistula & Jayden Brunt
Today, the Year 11 students will begin their Preliminary Examination period. This is an important opportunity for the students to test their knowledge and enhance their skills under exam conditions. Thank you to the staff for their work in preparing these assessments and for the upcoming work in marking and feedback. Good luck to all the students in these exams.
Last Tuesday evening was the last Parents and Friends meeting for Term 3 at the College. The guest speaker was Mr Kripal (Mathematics Coordinator and Numeracy Instructional Coach). He spoke in great detail about maths and numeracy initiatives within the College this year. Thank you to the parents who attended and once again I invite all parents to attend the next meeting on November 12. It was decided that this November meeting will be the last one for the year.
Mr Steve Lo Cascio
Principal