The weeks are just getting bigger and bigger as we race to the end of the school year. Our Stage 3 students have spent the past two days in Canberra with Mrs McLeod, Mrs Winsor, Mr Forsyth and Mrs Smith. They had an action-packed itinerary and had enormous fun. We will hear all the stories upon their return this afternoon. Our Year 10s wrap up two weeks of work experience and to all accounts they had a very valuable time being part of the work force and realizing that school is not such a bad place after all. Next week they will leave Sacred Heart for the last time and head off into the big wide world. We will celebrate the Graduation Mass at 11.45 on Friday and join together for a celebratory meal at the Club that night. They have been a wonderful bunch of young people who have shared their myriad of talents with the school and have been so capably supported by their PCA Ms Marsay. The Annual awards ceremonies will also be conducted on Wednesday 6 December at 10am for Infants and Primary students and then again at 12noon for the Secondary students. We congratulate all our students for their efforts and achievements this year. Unfortunately, not everyone can win a prize but hopefully everyone is happy and proud of all they attempted and accomplished this year.

The reports are entering the final phases of proof reading after many hours, days and weeks of preparation. Many hours go into assessments and moderation to prepare the reports and ensure their accuracy and consistency. This semester Catholic Education have reinstituted the reports as commendations and recommendations to highlight the areas of affirmation and development. With this increased workload and the extra comment dimension to the report there will no longer be the necessity for a phone call home to explain the points of praise and improvement. If you have any concerns when you receive the report there will be an opportunity to make an appointment with the class teacher in the final week.

This week we announced the new school leaders for 2024. This was after a thorough process of nomination, speeches, interviews and voting. We had outstanding students chose to stand for leadership in both Year 5 and Year 9. It never ceases to amaze us how articulate and enthusiastic our students are about the privilege of leading the student body for the next academic year. It is so hard to choose from the high calibre of students who contest the election and it is an unfortunate fact that not all can be elected and wear a badge. However, I am supremely confident that all our students will be leaders of their peers regardless of the badge or blazer. The student leadership team for 2024:

School Leaders: Thomas Peacey and Lucy Paterson

O’Shaughnessy Leaders: Nellie Ward, Amelia Smith, Polly Manwaring and George Clark

Mercy Leaders: Evan Lonnen, Ashlee Peacey, Charlotte Gay and Koby Bryant

De La Salle Leaders: Benjamin Piffero, Caitlin Cram, Oliver Daley and Reuben Smith.

The P&F committee met earlier this week in preparation for the first fundraising event for 2024 – the catering for the Schools Cootamundra Beach Volleyball Carnival. Mrs Heather Gammon has taken on the leadership of this catering and all volunteers are invited to send through their names to Heather for rosters for Friday 16 February. We will meet again early in the new year to ensure we have enough helpers and food for sale. We would love as many helpers as we can get.

Over the next two weeks we will start to prepare for the Primary classes move into the convent for the beginning of next year. Currently the Building Works is still in the tendering process but we hope the building will begin early in the new year. The Primary classes will take up residence in the convent for, hopefully, no more than 6 months and 1 class will be relocated to Secondary. While this will be a challenging space to be in it will save us a considerable amount of money by avoiding hiring demountables and we can retain maximum playground space. Small time pain for long term gain. The much-needed refurbishment will turn our tired primary building into a state-of-the-art learning space. We can’t wait.

Hopefully by next week’s newsletter I will be able to announce the final staff positions for 2024. It has been a challenge to ensure we secure quality staff for our school and we are looking forward to an exciting year with outstanding educators on every class.

Two weeks to go! Let’s make the most of these final lessons of 2023. Remember there is always a reason to be kind – especially at this time of the year.