Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

Today we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Whilst the actual feast day was last Saturday, our community came together as one for a mass for the first time in over two years. Our hope had been to ensure this was a full celebration, however without any new health directives but increasing COVID case numbers, the decision was taken to gather for as short a time as possible and ask the students not to sing. We hope that by our next scheduled mass at the end of this year, we will be able to return to a full community celebration.

At this mass, I outlined the basis of the Carmelite charism. The six concepts they follow are the ideas of prayer, solitude, silence, asceticism, ministry and Mary. Put simply, it is a life of simplicity where we allow God to enter and help us to do His work. In the same way that Mary lived a life of devotion to her son, we can also live a life of ministry where our actions help to promote the values and example of Jesus Christ. This charism is in full communion with our foundations as a Marist school and we are enhanced by the ability to draw on both the Marist and Carmelite foundations.

Earlier today, I sent a letter to all parents outlining some proposals for the start of 2023. This letter explained changes to lesson lengths and requested feedback on proposals for a change to the start and conclusion times of the day, as well as possible changes to our senior school structure and finally, changes to the junior girls’ uniform. There was a link in this letter to a survey where parents have an opportunity to give their opinion and make further comment. I encourage all parents to feedback on these proposals by the end of next week so that we can determine the next step.

During the last term, we refurbished our space under the main administration block to relocate our uniform shops. These spaces have now been completed and I am pleased to inform parents that you can now access these shops without the need to walk through the College. To go to the new uniform shop, please walk up the path past the basketball courts and the shops are located underneath the admin building. Eventually, these shops will also have a history of the College displayed in the foyer so parents can understand a little of how the College has developed.

This week we welcome several staff to the College. Ms Josephine Jefferys has returned to join us as a permanent member of the HSIE faculty. Ms Jefferys was employed on a temporary basis last year and we have been fortunate to have her return. Ms Sheldon Woodward is our new Science Lab assistant and has joined our college from private industry. Ms Woodward joins us as a permanent staff member and is a welcome addition to the science department. I am also pleased to announce that Ms Victoria Zullo has been appointed to a permanent position within the English faculty. Ms Zullo has been on staff for a few years and has now accepted a permanent role. I welcome each of these staff and thank them for their commitment in joining our community.

On Wednesday evening, our English staff will be hosting Year 7 parents to our first Parent Library evening. This is an initiative of Ms Murphy (our Literacy Instructional Coach) to support parent engagement and improve literacy levels and approaches amongst our students. This evening is also an initial response to requests from parents for more opportunities to become involved in the College. These requests were part of the Tell Them From Me survey that was conducted last term. We hope to have many opportunities in the future for parents to come onsite. I thank the English staff who have given up their evening to support this worthwhile initiative.

There has been much in the news lately regarding COVID numbers and health advice. We are yet to receive any directives regarding changes, however, we will continue to monitor trends and act on advice as it occurs. In the meantime, I encourage all students to wear masks where practical and ask them to maintain hand sanitising and safety practices.

Ite in Veritate

Mr Steve Lo Cascio

There has been a great deal of media commentary that has coincided with our return to school amid a peak in COVID and flu cases within and beyond our community. I wish to advise our parents and families that in terms of any official changes to COVID requirements this term, NSW Health have announced the following:

• NSW Health has revised the COVID-19 reinfection period from 12 weeks down to four weeks (28 days) effective from 12 July 2022.
• Students and staff who have previously had COVID-19 should test for COVID-19 if experiencing symptoms 28 days or more since their isolation ended and follow the relevant health advice if they test positive.

To this point in time, masks remain encouraged in indoor settings where social distancing is not practicable and students who are demonstrating any flu-like symptoms are asked to stay at home until the symptoms cease. It is our understanding that another delivery of RAT kits will be delivered to the College for all staff and students and, as has been the case previously, we will prioritise their distribution.

Finally this week, I remind everyone of our COVID-safe guidelines for Term 3 which carry over from those in place last term. These stipulate that whilst household close contacts who have no symptoms may continue to attend school, they must adhere to the following requirements:

• The school is notified that they are intending to return as a close household contact
• They must wear a mask indoors except when eating or exercising
• Once positive cases have completed their 7-day isolation period, they should wear a mask for an additional 3 days (for days 8 to 10)

Please note that students who test positive for COVID-19, or who are unwell or showing COVID-19 symptoms, must continue to isolate at home.

All the best for the week ahead,

Carmelite Dimension of the College's Spirituality

As you are aware, the land that College is built on comes from the Carmelites, who are next door to us.

Today, the College celebrated the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It commemorates when Mary appeared to St Simon at Mount Carmel, Israel, in the mid-13th Century. Our Lady gave him the brown scapular, a symbol that is still worn by Carmelites. This feast is special to us as it's where our College derives its name. 

Mount Carmel means God’s garden, and what a garden we have - the hills to the east provide us with a place that is green and peaceful.

Very much like the spirituality of the Carmelites. There are three elements that we will focus upon over the second half of the year - contemplation, community, and service.

Mrs Christine Meharg

Feedback is an exceptionally important part of the learning process. While it can take many different forms, feedback may include learning conversations between teacher and student which encourage the student to own their learning and to find ways to move forward. Throughout these conversations the following three questions provide opportunities for self-reflection – a critical part of the feedback process. 

1. Where am I going?
2. How am I going there?
3. Where to next?

Recently my Year 12 students wrote a reflection on learning thus far in their English Advanced course. Below is one student’s – Gabriel Garcia’s – self-assessment.

 I am pleased with my improvement in creative writing this term. I have found myself more confident and alert to the features of good writing through the study of texts and I feel that my close reading skills have become more specified, so that I can pick up on specific linguistic techniques related to conceptual preoccupations within texts with greater ease. To develop my writing skills, I would like to experiment further with my writing to incorporate more complex and nuanced stylistic decisions in my writing. I would also like to demonstrate dexterity and an awareness of writing as a ‘craft’ more clearly by adapting my writing to various unseen prompts. I find that my creative writing can often meander and become overtly philosophical and too focused on the internal/mental experience. I would like to broaden my repertoire of stories to ensure that I can write to a broad range of stimuli with confidence and approach my writing with a less restrictive lens. I aim to do this by engaging with different writers who would not necessarily interest me, to learn of their unique writing styles and adopt some features into my own writing as a form of experimentation. I think this will be more fulfilling for me as a writer and student over the next term as I prepare for the HSC exams.

Over the next term I would like to continue ensuring that my writing is as clear, succinct, and precise as possible. I will also continue to make time to write across various forms and using different conceptual ideas to experiment and grow as a writer myself. I am seeking a little bit more discomfort in my writing process in the hopes of continuously improving and becoming more skilful in my use of language to effectively convey my ideas. I would also like to practise more reflective writing to ensure that I can link my knowledge of the ‘craft’ with conceptual and linguistic concerns from across the texts studied in the course and my own knowledge. Furthermore, I enjoy discursive writing and would like to discuss and share conceptual ideas with others and receive feedback on my own work from peers/others.

Mrs Clare Murphy

English Coordinator & Literacy Instructional Coach