From the College Principal
Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends of the St Gregory’s College Community,
As I sit and write this first Newsletter for Term 3, my thoughts are consumed by the devastating COVID-19 situation being experienced in Victoria at present. Whilst we are able to operate with face to face teaching in New South Wales at present, our counterparts in Victoria are struggling, trying to straddle between online learning for the majority of students, and the face to face environment for the senior students working towards their end of secondary school credentials. Of course, this situation is made much worse by comparing our situation with what is happening all around the world. Our College community can feel blessed at the moment, but we must remain vigilant and on high alert.
The commencement of Term 3 means we have turned the corner after Semester One; we have shifted into the next gear for a busy term ahead; and, we are setting our goals for desired outcomes to ensure we are successful at the close of this year. These are aspirational statements that I would hope each student and staff member is currently considering and working towards. We need to be people of action this semester, committed and dedicated to do our very best in every context we find ourselves. As the College Principal, I look forward to working closely with our staff, students and family to achieve the desired goals and outcomes.
FEAST DAY – Saint Mary of the Cross - On Saturday 8 August the Church celebrates the anniversary of the death and the Feast Day of Australia’s first Saint, Mary MacKillop. Saint Mary MacKillop (Saint Mary of the Cross) is an outstanding role model for us at St Gregory’s because she lived the Gospel message and she reached out to those 'battlers’ struggling in the latter part of 19th century in our young nation. Mary's life was full of many achievements as she tried to remedy the social, religious and economic problems of the day. Catholic education for the bush children was the original focus but soon the needs of destitute women and men, orphans etc. were also addressed. While Mary's achievements are to be admired, we remember her for her goodness and loving example shown in the face of personal difficulties with family, work colleagues, Church authorities and her founding order of Sisters. Mary had a deep awareness of God's presence in her life from an early age and developed a personal relationship with her God. Her trust in Divine Providence was very strong thus enabling her to pursue her goals despite the odds against her e.g. poverty, debt, malice, scandal etc. Throughout her troubled years, Mary experienced much distress and pain but was firm in her conviction that if it was God's work, then it would succeed. She accepted the crosses in her daily life with courage. Mary's love of God was lived out in responding to a need conscious of the dignity of the human person at stake. We are indeed fortunate to have such an amazing woman as Australia’s first Saint, and someone all of the community at St Gregory’s can look towards as a woman of courage, perseverance, initiative and respect for God.
FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION - On Saturday 15 August the Feast of the Assumption of Mary will be commemorated. The Assumption of Mary is a doctrine which teaches that after the mother of Jesus died, she was resurrected, glorified, and taken bodily to heaven. The word assumption is taken from a Latin word meaning “to take up.” We are reminded of the amazing sacrifices and commitment of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is our task as members of the St Gregory’s community to be willing to say yes to God’s call in all we do, just as Mary did in accepting her role as mother of Jesus. It is truly inspiring to work at St Gregory’s among the body of staff, students and parents who accept the challenges of life each day and ‘take up’ the opportunities in all they do to spread God’s love and understanding.
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL – Senior School - Congratulations and thanks to the Head of College Sport, Mr Jamie Cook for his outstanding organisation of the Senior School Athletics Carnival on Friday 24 July. What a great day for all involved – students and staff! We were blessed with great weather, great facilities, and a wonderful attitude by students and staff. Thanks to Mr Gerard Fetterplace and the Grounds and Maintenance Team, our Year leaders and their assistants on the day, and the event organisers at each rotation. Thanks to all involved on a special day!
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS DEBATING (CSDA) - Congratulations to our CSDA Debating teams for last Friday night’s first round of debating up against St Patrick’s College Campbelltown. Whilst we were rusty across our teams, and the debates were held via Zoom, we managed 5 wins from the 10 debates with wins to our Year 12 teams setting the standard. Thanks to Mrs Maria Santos for her leadership of debating and public speaking in the College and our dedicated coaches who give up their precious time each week during the debating season. This Friday night we take on Rosebank College in a home debate. We look forward to a great evening of student debating.
STAGE 6 COURSE SELECTIONS – On Wednesday night we held the Stage 6 Course Selection Evening (Year 10 students selecting their courses for Years 11 & 12 in 2021 / 2022) at the College. As we cannot meet face to face at the moment, the evening was conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Aside from a few technical difficulties at the commencement of the evening, the presentations provided by staff members to our Year 10 students and their parents were fantastic.
I had the opportunity to address the students and their parents and I emphasised the need to treat this process seriously, ensuring thorough research and discernment takes place. We want our Year 10 students to know ‘why’ they want to complete the HSC; ‘why’ they choose certain subjects and a particular pattern of study; and most importantly, how they will sustain the effort, application and balance over the next two years as they head towards the end of their secondary education.
I would like to sincerely thank Mr Ric Bombardiere, our Director of Studies for his excellent preparation of the evening and for ensuring our Year 10 students and their parents have all the information, resources and contacts they need to complete the subject selection process. My thanks also to the presenters on the night – Mr Peter Hogan, Mrs Cathie Clarke, Mrs Michelle Gardiner, Mr Paul Brooks, Ms Loren Keir, Mr Ric Bombardiere, Mr Luke Morrissey and Mr Max Spencer. Each presenter spoke passionately and provided excellent information for our students and their parents. Thanks to Mr Don Perna, our trusty technician and IT ‘guru’ on the night. Despite some early difficulties, we got there!
Our Year 10 students and their parents now have some time to select courses before the Subject Selection Interviews on Wednesday 5 August.
NEW COLLEGE WEBSITE – The College is working closely with CIMarketing to develop our new, state of the art website. We are fortunate to be working with a company that truly understands schools and the requirements of ensuring the great name and reputation of St Gregory’s College is promoted through the new website. The new website will take a few months to complete and will be a wonderful place to attract new enrolments to our College. I will keep you up to date with the website progress.
2020 CHAMPAGNAT AWARDS - The 2020 Champagnat Awards were delayed this year (normally presented on Champagnat Feast Day – early June) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the timing of the day relative to the online learning period. The 2020 Champagnat Awards are now being organised and will be presented during the Feast of St Gregory celebrations in the first week of September.
STAFF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAYS – TERM 3 – A reminder that Staff Professional Learning days will take place on Friday 21 August (end of Week 5, Term 3) and on Monday 24 August. On these two days, the College will not be open for student supervision. Classes will resume on Tuesday 25 August.
It should be noted that Year 12 students have scheduled Trial HSC examinations on both Friday 21 August and Monday 24 August, and thus must be in attendance for these scheduled examinations.
Please also note as notified by Mr Spencer (Head of ISA Sport) last term in his Newsletter communication, “This term our boarding students involved in ISA Rugby will be participating in a 5 round ISA Competition, preceded by a trial game against St Pius X College on Saturday 1 August. Competition games will start on Saturday 8 August and finish on Saturday 5th September. One catch will be that this includes our free weekend. We will therefore only be playing the 1st and 2nd XV fixtures on the 22nd August. Year 12 will be staying in that weekend due to their Trial HSC exams taking place during the week either side of this weekend. Year 7 – 11 will head home for their free weekend as usual.”
WELCOME – We welcome our new students and their families to the College this term and two new staff members. A warm welcome to our new ICT Manager (K-12), Mr Craig Ebing. Mr Ebing commenced his time at the College on Monday 20 July and was very much looking forward to his appointment. We are fortunate to have his expertise and knowledge at the College. We also welcome Mrs Christine Denford to the College as the Administration Assistant - Reception in the Junior School. Mrs Denford is very welcome, and we hope she enjoys our beautiful College.
END OF TERM 3 REMINDER - A reminder that all classes conclude in Term 3 on Friday 25 September at 3:05pm for our Kindergarten – Year 11 students. All students are expected to attend classes until the end of Term 2. We all need to finish each term strongly and work in a sustained fashion until the last period of the final day of term. I request that parents / carers wishing for their son / daughter to finish the term prior to Friday 25 September write to me to in advance to request leave for your child.
Finally, thank you again for your ongoing support, encouragement, friendship and wise counsel. The support you provide assists me greatly.
I wish you God’s blessings always. May Mary, our Good Mother, Saint Marcellin Champagnat and Saint Gregory continue to guide us and inspire us on our journey.
Lee MacMaster
College Principal (K-12)