Assistant Principal -
Wellbeing

Mrs Mellissa Bell

Welcome back to Term 3

It is very exciting to see our first PE and Sport classes using the gym. It has been a long wait, but now that we have access to the space, I think everyone believes it was worth it. Ms Clydsdale and the PE staff were able to start to use the space on Tuesday. The smiles and sounds of excitement from each class that day were heartfelt. We also had our Yr 8 parents walk through the Performing Arts space on Monday evening. Everyone was impressed with the facilities and are very keen to come and watch a drama or music performance in the near future.

We started the term with a whole school assembly led by our student leadership team. It was at this time we took the opportunity to farewell Mrs Amanda McFarland (Leader of Wellbeing Yr 12) as she begins her maternity leave. We also farewelled Mr Shane McCann (Leader of Wellbeing Yr 10) who leaves our shores today to head over to Portugal as part of our Diocesean group for World Youth Day. Mrs Amber Smith will step in as Leader of Learning Wellbeing for year 12 and Ms Libby Plane will support year 10 during this time.

I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work our teachers do each and every day. Teaching truly is a vocation, and as such it often becomes an integral part of how we see ourselves. Last week I asked three of our year 12 students to help me show our teachers how important they are to our student body. Caleb Dubois-Bender accepted the challenge and with a few friends (Cody Greaves and Tavis Johnston) created this video that I shared with the staff. What a way to lift the spirits of our teachers! And what a way for our students to create a positive sense of value and care for our college.

Thank you for the sense of partnership we have, O’Connor is a school where we firmly believe that learning does not happen just at school. It is through our continued work together that we can best support our young people grow and develop into strong and independent people ready to take on the world around them.