PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

At the time of writing this article the winning House at the annual college Swimming Carnival is as yet unknown. Will it be Solomon House for a historical 10th year in a row, or will Tenison, Woods or Xavier be able to break their winning streak? Keep an eye on our social media platforms to find out more.

Next Wednesday as a school we will celebrate together at our Beginning of Year Mass.  The Mass will be held at St Mary’s Catholic Church at 12:00 pm.  Unfortunately due to current school guidelines, we will be unable to invite parents to attend. This will be a wonderful event at which we will commission our 2022 student leaders.

All families have had the opportunity to collect the Rapid Antigen Test packs for week 3 and 4 of the school year. There is no certainty that these will continue to be provided to schools, so I encourage you to source RAT kits elsewhere if you would like to continue to test your children at home.  If we have more packets made available, we will certainly let you know.

Parents and guardians may feel a little overwhelmed at the number of Operoo notifications you have been receiving. At the beginning of the year there are always a number of Operoos that we need to send out to ensure our parents and guardians know what their children will be doing in PE, as well as possible camps and excursions. This year we have had the added stress of COVID-19 notifications, which is a request of our governing authority, DOBCEL. I hope that these notifications are not causing you concern, and are informing you to allow you to be vigilant with the health of your own family. Thank you for your support and patience as we manage this current challenge of the pandemic.

This term I have been teaching 7E Mathematics. Having been a trained Maths teacher it has been refreshing to be back in a mathematics classroom. I also want to commend the students in this class for the great work that they have been doing. If all of the classes in the school are working as hard as 7E, then we are in for a great year.

In the last term of 2021 I established a Uniform Review Committee to consider possible changes to our current school uniform. I thank the following people for generously giving up time to work through this process and advise myself and the Leadership Team:  Scott Anderson, Chelsea Bird, Laura Crow, Joanne Mullan, Melissa O’Toole, Melissa Roberts, Joelle Whiting and student representatives Grace Scott (2021), Otto Conlan (2021/22) and Samantha Mullan (2022). As we move through our discussions there will be opportunities for students, parents and guardians and staff to have input. Any changes to the school uniform will be given adequate notice and a period of transition will be provided.

I look forward to hearing the successes of the Swimming Carnival today.