Principal's Message

Good afternoon parents & carers and welcome back to St Philomena's for the 2022 academic school year.  I trust that all our families had a wonderful and enjoyable Christmas and New Year and are excited to return back to school.  It's hard to believe we have already been back almost 2 weeks.  I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new families that have joined our St Philomena's Learning Community this year.  It is so exciting to see so many new faces entering the school gates.

Speaking of new faces, on Monday we welcomed 42 beautiful and extremely excited Kindergarten students (and their parents).  The morning was filled with fun, excitement and laughter (and some tears) as the students were introduced to what learning looks, feels and sounds like at 'Big School!' A special thank you to our Year 6 Student Leaders that have welcomed our Kindergarten students each morning with a warm and friendly smile as they walked through the school gate.  Very impressive and a wonderful way to start the school year.

Welcome also to our new Year 7 students (and their families) joining us from a range of primary schools within the greater Moree area.  It is always wonderful to welcome new families into our school, particularly to our growing secondary school (Years 7-10) learning environment.  You are all most welcome!

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has once again challenged the beginning of the school year with various restrictions and the added complexity of the Rapid Antigen Tests for students to take each Monday and Wednesday.  Thank you to all our families for your support and patience with the implementation of the RAT process over the past 2 weeks of school. Although not ideal, the exercise has been rather smooth.  A special thank you to the St Philomena's administration team for their hard work and commitment to our families by organising the collection strategy prior to the commencement of the school year.  This was a massive task that they responded to without hesitation or concern.

Congratulations to the students that participated in the Swimming Trials held on Tuesday at the Narrabri Aquatic Centre.  Although a very different feeling to a whole school carnival, the students performed extremely well and encouraged each other as they swam their competitive races.  Congratulations to all the students that qualified to represent St Philomena's at the Diocesan Primary Swimming Carnival in Gunnedah on Thursday 24 February.  We wish you all the very best!

It has been a wonderful (and calm) week of learning, however, I feel that we will see lots of very tired students (and possible staff) come Friday afternoon as a result of a full week back in learning environments.

Have a wonderful and restful weekend.

God bless

Jamie McDowall

Principal