Last Sunday’s Gospel included a story that is quite well known amongst Christians. It was the story of the prodigal son, sometimes also known as the story of the forgiving father or the story of the lost sons. Depending on how we look at this story, we will get a different perspective on its meaning. In the first instance, the son who feels that he has betrayed his father, goes through a process of reflection and remorse and then plans to beg his father for forgiveness. This is a journey to redemption. In the second instance, it is the story of a father who loves and forgives his child no matter what hurt they have caused him. In the third, it is the story of two sons who are lost to those around them for very different reasons but need love and care in order to live a healthy and happy life. Whatever the perspective, a common theme is around reflection on what has occurred and being able to communicate and care for others. As a community of faith, we must realise that actions have consequences but communication and care for all needs to be paramount in our thinking.

On Wednesday, Mr Teuma and four of our students travelled down to St John the Evangelist Catholic High School in Nowra for the launch of World Mission Month. There is an article on this later in this newsletter but it is worth noting that this starts a period of focus on those less fortunate. I thank Mr Teuma and the students for representing us at what included a very long trip.

On Thursday and Friday our Year 10 students attended the annual Gender Camp. This is where our young women and men are taken to different venues to discuss and reflect on issues around their own growth and how they interact with each other. Separating the students gives us a great opportunity to discuss these issues in a context that allows open dialogue. I thank the 14 staff who gave their time to lead this integral program to our students.

Our Year 11 students have been undertaking their Preliminary exams during this week. These exams have run very smoothly and this is a credit to the students and the staff in organising the process. With changes to HSC requirements, this is the last formal opportunity for an examination period for these students until the Trial HSC in term 3 next year. Once the exams are completed, I encourage the students to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses in this area and develop the necessary skills to improve. This will obviously be assisted by conversation with their teachers. Academic Reports on the Preliminary course will be distributed at the end of the course (which is the middle of term 4). For the first time, these reports will be completed in our new student management format on Compass. More information will be given on this as the reports come out. As a College, we have taken the opportunity to refine the information on these reports and they will look significantly different to our current reports. This new format will then be progressively rolled out by the First Semester reports next year.

Finally, good luck to our Year 12 students as they enter their last week of formal studies at school. We wish them the best for their farewell week and beyond.