Last Sunday’s Gospel was the reading from St Luke about the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18: 9 – 14). In this story, the pharisee goes to the temple and thanks God that he is so much better than the tax collector who has a reputation for theft and dishonesty. At the same time, the tax collector asks God’s forgiveness for the wrongs that he has done in his life. One of the main points in this parable is that we all have the opportunity and ability to improve the way we live. For the pharisee, it may be around the way that he treats others and the assumption that he is better than another. For the tax collector, it is not just about being sorry for his actions, but looking at how he can make amends or change his behaviours. At our College Leadership Team planning day on Thursday, we reviewed our strategic directions for the next few years and there was a significant discussion around the mission and vision for Mount Carmel Catholic College. One of the interesting questions was whether each member of our community knows and understands our purpose. Part of our mission is around being Christ-centred and living the values of the Gospels. In line with this Gospel, do we judge others simply to make decisions about their worth? Do we recognise that we are all capable of improvement and able to live the Gospel message more fully. Over the last few months of this year, and the first of next year, I will be asking our community to reflect on these values and how we can better action the vision of Mount Carmel.

Last Monday, Mrs Murphy, Ms Young and I attended a Diocesan-wide symposium on Collaborative Inquiry. I have mentioned before that Mrs Murphy was appointed as our Literacy Instructional Coach during 2019 and this symposium enabled us to share our literacy journey with our other secondary schools. In listening to some of the wonderful things that are happening elsewhere, I was proud of the initiatives that have happened here around literacy improvement. This included things such as dialogue and mentoring of staff, writing clubs, literacy initiatives in classes and the parent presentation to the P&F. There was a discussion amongst our staff about how these initiatives would be extended in 2020, and these will involve opportunities for parents to understand and interact with literacy at the College. I encourage all parents to watch for these initiatives and take part when they are offered.

In a few weeks, Year 11 parents will be receiving academic reports for the Preliminary courses. These reports will look significantly different to the reports that have been distributed over the last few years. This is a result of our move to Compass as a student management system and significant work around what information should be given that will assist parents in your discussions with your children around their progress. A letter will accompany these reports to explain the new format, however, I am excited about the improvements. The junior reports that are distributed at the end of this year will remain in the current format and will move to the new template from Semester 1 next year. I welcome any feedback following the distribution of these new reports.

I was excited to hear that our Year 7-8 boys Basketball team had great success at the NSW Combined Catholic College Basketball competition held earlier this week. This team placed 2^nd overall which is an enormous achievement. I am sure there will be more information around this team but I would just like to congratulate the boys and their coaches on what is a memorable result.

On Sunday November 3, we will be holding our second College working bee. This working bee is for the families of MacKillop and Murray houses. During these working bees, we take the opportunity to clean the external parts of buildings, repaint some of the furniture and re-bark and weed the gardens. All assistance is appreciated and we will thank those families who attend, in future newsletters. The day will begin at 9 am and conclude by 12 pm with a sausage sizzle thank you organised by the P&F. Please feel free to come for the whole time or any part you can assist.