Dear parents, friends, staff and students,

Today is the feast of St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop), Australia’s only saint. St Mary was a driver of education and the care of the marginalised and is a role model for children and adults alike. One of St Mary’s quotes sits proudly on the wall of my office as a reminder of our responsibilities and benefits. The quote simply is; “Do all you can with the means at your disposal and calmly leave the rest to God”. I have used this quote in newsletters before to emphasise that we have an obligation to ‘do all we can’. As Catholics, we do not believe in fate or predetermination because we have free will and so we are expected to be active in our pursuit of excellence. We do not just sit back and let things happen. Having said that however, once we have done all we can (ALL WE CAN), there is no use in getting anxious or upset about what will happen, we must then accept the results and move on from there. This has been a useful thought when I have needed to make difficult decisions or strive for improvements. I encourage students to adopt this approach in their studies.

Over the last few weeks of term 2 and the first week of term 3, I had the opportunity to take a short leave break and complete the last section of the Camino De Santiago (a 115 km walk to the tomb of St James in Spain) and a short psychology course at Oxford University in England. I spoke with the students at the Year 7 – 10 awards assembly upon my return about the opportunity to complete further study at a world recognised institution that was almost 500 years old. More than this however, my talk was about the nature of learning and the notion that learning is about interest and passion and whilst goals (such as HSC results) are extremely important, they are not actually the end goal. Learning is something that should be lifelong but should be done for personal growth and improvement. This fits with our theme from the start of this year and was highlighted for me by the students in the class that I attended. They ranged from an 18 year old Swiss student who had just completed his HSC equivalent, to an American grandmother in her 70s who was there with her husband and granddaughter. In between, we had an IT specialist from Japan, a care worker from Rwanda and others from the UK, India, Brazil, Spain, the Philippines and the Ukraine. None were there for careers or promotion, but all were there for their own development. Learning is about creating a passion and developing an interest and each student should look to how they can do this at Mount Carmel and on into the future. 

Whilst I was out, the staff maintained our consistently high standard of expectation and delivery of opportunities for excellence. A very big thank you to Miss Giles and Mr Huntly who stepped up into the front leadership roles and the many staff positions that flowed on from these movements.

This week our Year 12 students commenced their HSC Trials. As always, we wish them the best but remind them that these exams are just the next stage in their learning and are a very important opportunity to recognise where they can improve. Again, I encourage these students to use these as a learning experience and ask you all to support them where possible.

During this week it became apparent that we have not clearly articulated our processes around footage of student performances that have been taken at events such as our Champagnat Day concerts. Where we livestream events and have them available for parents to see, we advertise this and share links prior to the event. We do this for things such as the College Masses and year 12 Graduation. We do not distribute other footage except for very short snippets on social media. These snippets give a brief idea of what is occurring at the College, and we ensure that we have the correct publishing permissions and provide a written context in the social media of what it represents. For a number of reasons, we do not share whole performances as we then cannot be sure where or how they will be used and do not have the IT resources to find, cut, copy and distribute these to multiple parents. I ask that you understand our position, specifically around students who perform not expecting these to be distributed. We have recorded these in the past for our archives but realise that this has created an inconsistency. As a result, celebration concerts such as on Champagnat Day will no longer be recorded. I acknowledge that this has not been articulated well for the past few years and I apologise for any misunderstandings.

Over the past two weeks we have said farewell to Mr Kawa (Maths), Ms Hanna (HSIE) and Ms Teuma (Finance) who have all left us to work closer to home or pursue a new role. I thank each of them for their contribution to Mount Carmel and wish them the best in their futures. We have been joined by Ms Peiris (week 3) and Mr O’Halloran (week 5) and I warmly welcome them aboard.

A reminder that we will have our Term 3 Parents and Friends meeting on Tuesday August 19 (week 5) at 7 pm in room I3. As always, all parents are welcome, and I encourage you to attend on the evening.

Nurturing Engagement Through High Impact Teaching Strategies

As a Catholic school, we are called to educate the whole person — mind, heart, and spirit. Our mission is not only to impart knowledge but to foster curiosity, critical thinking, and a deep love for learning in every student. This commitment aligns beautifully with the use of High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), research-based approaches that promote student engagement and improve outcomes across diverse learning environments.

At the heart of these strategies is a simple but powerful truth: students learn best when they are active participants in their own learning. Whether it's through setting clear learning goals, using explicit instruction, or giving timely feedback, HITS encourages a dynamic classroom where students feel known, supported, and empowered.

Student engagement grows when learning is meaningful and connected to their lives. HITS helps teachers design learning that is both challenging and supportive, ensuring that all students, regardless of background or ability, feel they belong and can succeed.

In Term 1 this year, the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong released and shared a very important document called the “Faith, Learning and Wellbeing Framework’. Here at Mount Carmel College, we use this document to further guide us to ensure all students have continual growth in faith and improvement in learning.

In classrooms across our school, we prioritise HITS in action and monitor authentic student engagement. As a staff, we continue to explore and refine these strategies, knowing that effective teaching is not just about delivering content, but about igniting hearts and minds.

If you are interested in finding out more about how this occurs in our classrooms, how we monitor student engagement and how our staff professional learning prioritises this, please come along to the upcoming P&F Meeting on Tuesday 19 August (Week 5).

Stay safe, keep well, go gently.

Ms Samantha Giles

Assistant Principal