Chev Need to Knows
5 September 2025
Dear parents and carers,
This Sunday, as we celebrate Father’s Day, we honour the fathers and father figures who shape our lives with quiet strength, enduring love, dedicated kindness and a spirit of presence.
At Chevalier College, we see fatherhood not only in biological terms, but in the many ways people show up for others, with kindness, understanding, and compassion. These are the very qualities named in Constitution 34 of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart:
“Ours is a spirit of family and true friendship formed by kindness and understanding, compassion and mutual forgiveness, by gentleness, humility and simplicity, by hospitality and a sense of humour.”
This spirit was beautifully echoed in the reflections of our students in the Father’s Day video shared yesterday. Whether directly or indirectly, they spoke of fathers who listen, who laugh, who forgive, who guide. Fathers who are present, not perfect, but profoundly human.
These are the men who live the MSC charism in everyday life. They create homes where hearts are safe. They model humility and humour. They offer forgiveness and foster friendship. They are the quiet builders of community and the gentle anchors in times of uncertainty.
To all fathers and father figures in our Chevalier community I say, “thank you”. Thank you for your love, your example, and your presence. May this Sunday be a celebration of all you are and all you give.
With gratitude and every blessing for “your day.”
Greg Miller
Principal
Upcoming Year 8 Retreats
Permission notes for the Year 8 Retreats have been sent home to parents via the Parent Lounge. Please note the following details:
- Monday 8 Sept (Week 8) – 8.2, 8.4 and 8.6
- Monday 15 Sept (Week 9) – 8.5 and 8.7
Where to Meet: Students should meet in front of the main Chapel on their allocated day.
Dress: Neat casual clothing with comfortable shoes for walking.
What to bring: Hat, sunscreen, water bottle.
Morning tea (muffin and fruit) and lunch (sandwich) will be provided. Students may wish to bring additional food.
Heartworks Movie Night – Friday 12 September
Film: Shrek
When: Friday 12 September
Time: 6.00pm – 8.00pm
Where: Sacre Coeur Lawn (weather permitting)
Cost: Gold coin donation
Popcorn, drinks and other snacks will be for sale.
All students who wish to attend must pre-register using the form in Student Notices.
Please bring a rug, picnic blanket, chair.
All proceeds to support Catholic Mission.
Central Australia Immersion – Year 11 2026
Chevalier College is offering an immersion to Central Australia with Red Earth for interested Year 11 2026 students. This tour offers enriching educational and cultural experiences to students. An online Parent Information Evening is scheduled for 7pm Tuesday 16th September to provide families with the opportunity to learn more about the immersion and ask questions. Please register here.
Sandy Abbey
Assistant Principal - Faith Formation and Mission
Enrolments
If you have a child in Years 7 – 11 who will be leaving the College at the end of this academic year, please send an email as soon as possible to enrolments@chevalier.nsw.edu.au. As per your enrolment contract, a full term's notice is required.
Please also be aware that:
- If your child is planning to withdraw from the College to pursue an apprenticeship, we are required to sight signed apprenticeship documentation, a copy of which should be sent through to Enrolments.
- If your child is planning to withdraw from the College to pursue employment, we are required to sight an employment contract showing a minimum of 25 hours, which should be sent through to Enrolments.
Positions for Year 7 2027 are filling fast, so if you have a child currently in Year 5 and you are intending to apply, please submit your application without delay so your child does not miss out on a place.
Thank you,
Enrolments Office
Flexible Monday Parent Webinar
The next parent webinar for parents and carers of students who have recently completed their microcredential will take place at 7.00pm on Monday 15 September.
If your child would like to be approved to learn from home on Flexible Mondays, you will need to attend this webinar as the next step in providing permission.
Parent / carers of Year 9 students - next year, when your child commences Year 10, they will be eligible to learn from home on Flexible Mondays if every step of the approval process has been completed. If you would like to get on the front foot, please encourage your child to complete their microcredential soon, to help us manage the volume of requests at the end of the academic year. Once they complete their credential, you will receive an invitation to attend the next scheduled webinar in preparation for the start of next year.
Year 11 Preliminary Exam Timetable
Year 8-11 Parent Teacher Interviews - Rescheduled
Bookings are now open for you to rebook Parent Teacher Interviews for Years 8-11. Interviews will be held via Teams on Monday 8 September.
Year 9 (2026) Subject Selections
Parents of Year 9 (2026) Students: the recording of the Subject Selection evening has been loaded onto Canvas, Student Central, for those who missed the evening or wish to watch again.
Rebecca Graham
Senior Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching
Diverse Learning
Please find below an upcoming event for parents of neurodiverse students:
Positive Partnerships Autism Workshop: 23 September in Goulburn
Positive Partnerships is a government-funded program that offers free neuro-affirming workshops to parents/carers of autistic young people, including those on the pathway to identification.
This is a one day workshop in Goulburn on 23 September:
Visit the Positive Partnerships website for more details and to register:
More information about workshop content:
https://www.positivepartnerships.com.au/workshops-online-learning/workshops
Eager to Help? Be a Reader/Writer Volunteer for HSC exams!
The College would be most grateful for adult volunteers to perform Reader/Writer duties during the upcoming examinations. If you cannot commit but wish to help, please pass on our request to suitable adults.
Who?
Adults who act as readers and writers must:
- do so on a voluntary basis
- have a volunteer Working with Children Check (free for volunteers, online application)
- not be a relative or friend of the student or have a close relative sitting the same examination.
Readers may be approved for students whose diagnosed disability prevents them from independently reading and/or comprehending written questions. Writers may be approved for students with a diagnosed disability preventing them from independently communicating their responses in a handwritten format.
When?
The examination periods are listed below. Specific dates and times will be advised closer to the time.
- Year 11 Preliminary examinations – 15 to 24 September
- Year 12 HSC examinations – 16 October to 7 November
How?
If you are interested in volunteering your time, please click here to complete a short form, and our Diverse Learning Team will be in touch to discuss the duties further.
You are welcome to direct any questions to diverselearning@chevalier.nsw.edu.au.
Margaret Hampton
Leader of Learning - Diverse Learning
How to Manage your Teen's Expectations after Exams
We encourage parents and carers of Year 12 students to read the article below from REACHOUT, as their Year 12 students prepare for examination feedback.
Year 10 Student Incursion
All Year 10 Students are required to attend school on Monday 8 September to attend an important incursion which includes sessions on:
Respectful Relationships - presented by Sr Constable Rachel Kennedy (Youth Command Officer):
- To assist Young People in navigating personal and domestic relationships, Police attached to the Youth Command Southern Highlands are facilitating a one hour presentation, which will encourage discussion and engagement on the topic of Healthy Relationships.
- The presentation will address varied content including Respectful Relationships, Boundaries, Consent , Coercive Control , Domestic Violence , Service Provision and the importance of being an active and positive Bystander.
- The presentations will raise awareness and encourage discussion on the important issue of Healthy Relationships, whilst affording students an opportunity to develop critical thinking skills in a safe and supportive environment.
- All My Own Work - Mrs Graham
- Emersion & Formation/ Year 10 Retreat - Mr Abbey
AI Introduction - Mr Noonan
No Flipped Learning will be set for Year 10 on this day.
Social Media
From December 10, 2025, social media platforms in Australia will be legally required to prevent under-16s from creating or maintaining accounts. This legislation is not about punishment - it’s about protection, and signifies a national shift to prioritise giving give young people more time to grow, connect, and build resilience, before being handed over to systems designed for profit, not their wellbeing.
As a follow up from our earlier Parent Forum, we would like to provide some information on the upcoming legislation that will impact some of our students' social media use. The information comes from the lens of offering parent support delivered by Kirra Pendergast*, publisher of a support document titled, 'Parent and Carer’s Guide - The Australian 16+ Age Delay’.
Rather than providing you with an overwhelming volume of information in one sitting, we are releasing the guide in three sections over the next three weeks, and will then provide the entire article the week after.
*Kirra Pendergast has been a pioneer in Australia's cybersecurity and online safety sectors since the early 1990s. Kirra is the Founder and Principal Strategist of Safe on Social and Ctrl+Shft. She is an in-demand keynote speaker, expert witness, writer, and media commentator.
Current Concern
OMEGLE now known as THUNDR
We have been made aware that some of our students are engaging in an over-18s live chat web platform. The information below is taken directly from the e-safety website, and explains what the platform is, and the risks associated with our students engaging with it. Please take the time to speak with your children about this.
What are random chat apps and what are the risks?
Strangers can appear on screen in real time through anonymous chat platforms that pair users randomly for video or text conversations. Today, those strangers are just a click away often appearing on screen in real time, through anonymous chat platforms that pair users randomly for video or text conversations.
These platforms – such as the now-defunct and disgraced Omegle and still-active Chatroulette, HOLLA, Monkey and OmeTV – are designed for spontaneity and global connection.
But for children and young people, they can quickly become gateways to inappropriate content, manipulation, and sexual exploitation.
The risks are not hypothetical, they are happening now and they are serious.
In this online e-safety advisory, we examine the unique dangers of anonymous chat platforms, and offer parents and carers guidance on how to protect those most at risk.
The safety issue: Hidden dangers of anonymous chat apps
Anonymous chat platforms let people connect with strangers instantly. Often, there are limited registration and age check requirements. Sometimes, this is by design.
For children, what sounds like off-the-cuff fun is also a perfect storm for potential contact and abuse by adult predators. Here's why:
If there is no age checking: Children can slip into adult spaces with ease.
Random pairing: Users are matched with strangers, often without filters.
Live video: Inappropriate content can appear in seconds, without warning.
Anonymity: Predators can hide their identity and intentions.
Recording risks: Conversations can be saved and misused without consent.
Omegle, one of the most notorious anonymous chat platforms, became known for pairing minors with adults engaging in sexual behaviour. In 2022 alone, Omegle flagged more than 500,000 instances of child sexual abuse material.
If you have any concerns about any of the information provided above, please contact the College via the usual channels.
Kelly Walker
Assistant Principal - Wellbeing and Growth
Summer Sport Trials
- Teams will be announced via Student Café in Week 8.
- Parent permission forms will be sent via Parent Orbit once teams have been announced.
Coach Phillips
Extra Curriculum Coordinator
Uniform Transition
We are close to finalising the designs for our new uniform; they will be shared when complete.
All students will transition to the new uniform by 2030, or the year they enter Year 11. We are committed to being flexible during the transition period to assist with affordability.
Year-specific communications will be sent to Years 7 - 9 via Parent Lounge and Orbit explaining the transition per year group.
Years 10 - 12 will not receive a separate communication, given that these students will complete their schooling in the current uniform. We encourage these students to take advantage of the current senior uniform sale in the Chev Shop (see below).
The specifics regarding the new uniform will be shared when the designs are finalised in Term 4 2025.
Winter Warmers – Only While Stock Lasts!
Come and get your winter warmers while stock lasts, limited stock available on both items.
CHEVALIER COLLEGE BEANIE - $25
WOOL CHEVALIER COLLEGE SCARF - $38
Chev Shop Senior Sale
HSC Showcase
You are warmly invited to the Chevalier College HSC Showcase. This event is a wonderful celebration of the outstanding achievements of our Design and Technology, Timber, Drama, Music, Visual Arts, Ceramics, English Extension, History Extension and Society and Culture students of 2025.
Come and admire stunning major works, captivating performances, and impressive projects from our talented Chevalier students.
With canapés on arrival, prepared and served by our Hospitality students, we invite you to join us in toasting the talent and hard work of these inventive young people.
Thursday 11 September
5.00pm - 7.15pm
McGrath Hall
Registrations are essential https://events.humanitix.com/chev-hsc-showcase-2025
- Flexible Monday - 8 September (except Year 10)
- Parent Teacher Interviews - 8 September
- Year 10 Healthy Relationship Presentation - 8 September
- Year 8 Retreat for 8.2, 8.4 and 8.6 - 8 September
- WSC Earthflix Film Screening - 8 September
- Red Earth Student Talk - 9 September
- HSC Showcase - 11 September
- Common Ground Anti-Discrimination Program - 11 September
- GSSCC Awards Ceremony 2025 - 12 September
- Flexible Monday - 15 September
- Year 11 Exams - 15 to 24 September
- Year 10/12 Construction Excursion - 15 September
- Year 9 Wilderness Excursion - 15 to 17 September
- Year 8 Retreat for 8.5 and 8.7 - 15 September
- ISA Athletics Carnival - 16 September
- Red Earth Parent Information Evening - 16 September
- Extra Curriculum Awards Night - 17 September
- CAPALoT Concert - 18 September
- Camden Agricultural Expo - 20 September
- Flexible Monday - 22 September
- Year 9 iSTEM Excursion - 22 September
- Year 8 Retreat Mass - 22 September
- NSWCIS Athletics Championships - 23 September
- Year 12 Graduation - Ceremony, Mass and Dinner - 25 September
- Last day of Term 3 - 26 September
- School Holidays - 27 September to 13 October
- Students return for Term 4 - Tuesday 14 October