These past few weeks have been marked with lots of successes and lots of new challenges. Wonderful sporting events, gala days, the Mock Trial competition and a memorable liturgy have been highlights of the past weeks. However these past weeks have also been increasingly challenging as we have had a considerable number of staff and students absent from school for a variety of reasons. Many are still impacted by COVID and spending mandatory time in isolation, but now there are additional viruses and “bugs” that are keeping staff and students at home. We thank families for keeping sick children at home and preventing the spread of the contagions, we thank the students for coping so well with the changes to routine and class structures to ensure that all classes are covered by a teacher and we thank the staff for so generously offering to help as we struggle with no or limited casual teacher replacements whilst maintaining learning in the classroom. Unfortunately this may continue as the new “normal” for some time as schools navigate the winter months. This is our peak time for illnesses but it is more challenging this year as the number of available casual staff dwindles. We are doing our very best to ensure that learning continues.

Ironically one of our goals this year is to address the issue of attendance. We understand if a child is sick and unable to attend school but we would encourage parents to ensure that at all other times students are present for learning opportunities.

The weather has been bitter and dreary the past week and layers of clothing were the usual attire. We are very happy for students to wear additional layers UNDERNEATH their uniform to keep warm and to continue wearing the uniform on the outer layer. The school coat is an excellent addition to our uniform and is available locally for a reasonable price. There are winter uniform articles available in the uniform pool but not all sizes are available. There are no coats in the pool nor are there any ties. If you have any of these items at home that you are no longer using please consider donating these to the uniform pool. Mrs Kylie Winsor does an excellent job of coordinating and managing the uniform pool and we are grateful for her enthusiasm and efforts. If you would like some items please leave a message at the front office and Kylie will collect them at her earliest convenience. They can be collected from the front office for a donation.

Our Confirmation candidates were presented to the Parish at Saturday night’s vigil mass. Thank you to Mrs Maxwell, Sr Kathy, Fr Lolesio and the Stage 3 teachers for their support and preparation of the candidates. Please keep the students and their families in your prayers.

We have entered the final assessment period coming in to Semester One reporting. Most students will have assessments and assignments due at this time. Secondary students will have some examinations in some subjects in Week 8 as reports are finalised for dissemination at the end of the term. All reports will be sent out digitally and can be accessed through the COMPASS portal. Please contact the school asap if you have not sorted your COMPASS access. If you could check your email inbox for any COMPASS notifications first it would be greatly appreciated.

Every school in the archdiocese has been granted additional Professional Development days from the Catholic Education Office to assist in planning and preparation to maximise learning opportunities. In dialogue with the closest regional schools we decided to opt for FRIDAY 10 JUNE and FRIDAY 1 JULY. These are pupil-free days and unfortunately we are unable to offer supervision. Please make a note of these dates.

We continue to keep families who are struggling with illness in our prayers and hope that God continues to hold them in the palm of his hand.

“Be kind. Be fair. Be honest. Be true. And all of these things will come back to you. Remember what goes around, comes around.” Kindness is never wasted.

God Bless