Principal's Report

Dear Parents, Carers and Community members,

I would like to extend best wishes to all for a happy and healthy new year. It’s a pleasure to see all the students, teachers, and ancillary staff back at school after a long, and well-deserved break. 

As we enter a new year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people that have taken the time to wish me well and make me feel so welcome as I take on the role of principal of O’Connor Catholic College. As I have spoken about to the staff and students, I intend on being a visible principal, with a clear focus on building quality relationships and ensuring we provide a safe, challenging but also highly engaging learning environment. A connected school where students, parents, carers, and the wider community work collectively to provide a high-quality learning environment where there are opportunities for all our students to achieve ‘Be successful’ at whatever level that may be.

Having spoken to many community members since being appointed to O’Connor Catholic College, all have spoken about this great school in such a positive manner. In the first few weeks I can see that O’Connor provides its students with a faith based, healthy and competitive learning environment to help the students grow, be it academics, creative arts, industrial arts, sport, or any other extra-curricular area.

At our first school assembly, I have challenged our students to be the best they can be ‘to be successful’. I asked them to think about these questions. How are you going to achieve personal excellence, be successful this year?  What are you going to do differently? We want our students to use their gifts given to them by God and to ‘let their light shine’ for all to see, so as a community we can celebrate their successes with them. This will require them to take ownership for their learning, set themselves clear goals on what they want to achieve and then to work hard to achieve these goals.

I also ask the parents and carers to work with us and also challenge your child/children to be the best they can be in all facets of their lives.

Welcome to our community for 2024.

A big welcome goes to our new Year 7 students who have started the year very well, finding their way in a new environment and what high school is all about compared to primary school. I have had the opportunity to say hello as a collective group but also meet a number of them individually. It was great to see their smiling faces as they entered the college on their first day and at the end of their first week. I would also like to welcome all the other students that have joined us in Years 8-11 for the 2024 school year.

We also welcome several new staff members, Peter Grulovic, Tracey Mackay, Brian Shumack, Susanne Hughes to our teaching staff and ex students Bridie Giles as Youth Minister and Roie Wood as Senior student mentor.

You are all most welcome and I am looking forward to getting to know you all as the year progresses.

Lent

This week we celebrated Ash Wednesday which signifies the beginning of lent. It is the start of 40 days of prayer, penance and giving as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. But what does this actually look like, how can we be active participants during this period?

Lent is not just about giving up something like chocolate, social media for a short period of time. It is an opportunity to make positive change in our own lives, making a positive difference in someone else’s life, either it be someone we know, someone we don’t know, someone we don’t like, or someone that lives kilometres away that is simply in need. 

This Lenten period I encourage us all to make a difference by getting involved.

1. Supporting Caritas as we raise funds to help the people less fortunate than us.
2. Being kind to others, by simply going out of your way to say something nice to someone every day.
3. Cleaning out your closet and donating used items to St Vincent De Paul.
4. Slowing down and taking time for prayer or meditation or spending quality time with family.
5. Reaching out to someone that may have hurt you and showing forgiveness. 
6. Embracing the opportunity for personal growth.

Finally, I would like to finish with quote from St John Baptist De La Salle

“Leave aside all your worry about the present and all your anxiety about the future; occupy yourselves with what you have to do at each moment as it is given to you, and do not burden the day which is passing with doubts about the day to follow.”

Mr Phillip Gibney

Principal