The MCHF Newsletter

The Exec Address

From the desks of our College Executives 

Executive Principal's Address

Dear Maronite College of the Holy Family community,

Welcome to the 2025 academic year and we hope it will be one full of many blessings for each of us. I take this opportunity to especially welcome all the new students, parents and staff to the College.

Over the holidays an extensive amount of work was completed including:

  • H block completion which will house the Kindy and Year 1 students. 

  • A new grass playground in the G block which will enable students to play sports including soccer and touch footy.

  • The B block rooftop has been refashioned to include soft-fall so that students can also play sports up there.

  • We now have another construction / woodwork room so we now can cater for the ever-increasing interest in those subject areas.

  • We have two new music rooms for Secondary and a new music room for Primary, with new instruments purchased including keyboards and guitars.

  • We have a new Primary Art Room.

  • We have a new retail room decked out with the required equipment.

The Official Opening and Blessing of the new H block took place on 17th February in the presence of government and religious figures, including Dr Andrew Charlton, Federal MP for Parramatta, Ms Donna Davis, State MP for Parramatta, Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay and many other guests. The Kindy and Year 1 students are thoroughly enjoying their new classrooms in H block!  

Our Masterplan has taken shape and we hope to lodge it for approval by mid-year. Once approval is given (this can take around 12 to 24 months), we will commence building works. If anyone would like to see the Masterplan design, please let me know. The Masterplan has evolved over two years, with ongoing consultation from the Governing Board, staff, and members of the College community, working alongside the architect and project manager.

Our HSC results achieved by the 2024 cohort were impressive and we congratulate them on their efforts across the year. We celebrated their achievements with an Honour Mass on 14 February. 

 

I hope that this year we will all collaborate together to ensure we are all achieving the best we can and supporting one another to bring out the best in each other.

May the Holy family watch over us throughout 2025.

 

Sr Margaret Ghosn

Executive Principal

Welcome Back to a New School Year

 

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

It is with great enthusiasm that I welcome you to the first edition of our school newsletter for the year. I hope you all had a restful break and are as excited as I am to kick off what promises to be an incredible year of growth, learning, and community building.

 

As we begin this new school year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the values that make our school such a special place. Our dedicated staff, hardworking students, and supportive families create an environment where everyone can thrive. Under the administration and through the inspiration of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, we accompany our students in the realisation of their potential, with the goal of challenging our community to grow in faith, strive for excellence and transform the future.

 

2025 Theme: Together We Achieve

We are excited to share with you our theme for 2025: Together We Achieve. This theme holds special significance as it is deeply rooted in one of our core College Values – collaboration.

 

In a world where success is often achieved through collective effort, this year, we want to emphasize the importance of working together as a community. By fostering collaboration between students, staff, and families, we can help our young learners thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. When we join forces, supporting and encouraging each other, we create a rich, inclusive environment where every individual can flourish.

 

Throughout 2025, we will focus on building stronger connections, enhancing teamwork, and celebrating the power of unity. We believe that when we work hand-in-hand, we can overcome challenges, celebrate accomplishments, and achieve great things together.

 

New Staff

We welcome the following staff members to our College who are joining us this year:

· Ms Emma Dettling (Head of Teaching and Learning)

· Ms Angelina Portolesi (Year 1)

· Ms Chantal Katrib (Year 5)

· Ms Patricia Mouawad (Year 6)

· Ms Lara El Khoury (SLSO Year 3)

· Ms Natalie Haddad (Secondary Maths/PDHPE)

· Mr Martin McConville (Secondary HSIE)

· Ms Jessica Esaid (Secondary HSIE)

· Ms Angie Hani (Secondary Visual Arts – Term 1)

· Ms Souzi Tanios (Relief Teacher)

 

Engagement

This year, we are excited to introduce an engagement initiative to provide an opportunity for students to be involved in the extra-curricular life of the College. The initiative will not only provide opportunities for students, it will also allow them to contribute points towards their House.

 

Ms. Claudia Bou-Melhem has been appointed the Engagement Coordinator for our College and will be leading our engagement initiatives.

 

Parent Engagement

Your involvement is essential to our students’ success. We encourage you to stay connected with us throughout the year by attending parent-teacher conferences, participating in volunteer opportunities, and keeping up with College events. Together, we can create the best possible learning environment for your child.

 

I am looking forward to seeing the growth and accomplishments of our students this year. I am confident that, with your continued support, this will be an exceptional year for all of us.

 

Once again, welcome back to the College. Thank you for being such an important part of our College community. Together, let’s make this year one filled with joy, learning, and achievement!

 

God bless,

Mr. Elie Asmar

Head of College

An update from our Head of Wellbeing (K-12)

 Introducing the MCHF Student Wellbeing Framework

 

At Maronite College of the Holy Family, we are committed to fostering a learning environment where every student feels valued, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential.

To strengthen this commitment, we are excited to introduce the MCHF Student Wellbeing Framework, a comprehensive approach designed to promote holistic wellbeing and positive student outcomes.

 

The MCHF Student Wellbeing Framework is built upon five key domains. These pillars ensure that wellbeing remains at the heart of everything we do, guiding our school community in creating a nurturing and supportive atmosphere for all students.

 

KEY DOMAINS:

Leadership – Visible leadership to inspire positive school communities.

College staff accompany our student leaders to build a committed and positive faith-filled environment where the community feels connected, safe, and respected to walk in the way of Christ.

 

Inclusion – Inclusive and connected school culture.

We are a Christ-centred community that actively engages in building a welcoming culture that values diversity and fosters positive, respectful relationships.

 

Partnerships – Effective school community partnerships.

College staff actively collaborate and partner with the wider college community to support student learning, faith, engagement, and wellbeing.

 

Support – Holistic wellbeing and support.

Our college stakeholders share a responsibility to foster growth, support, and care, guided by faith and a commitment to nurturing the whole child in mind, body, and spirit.

 

Student Voice – Authentic student participation.

We provide opportunities to empower and drive authentic, dynamic, and faith-driven learners and leaders. Students are active participants and advocates in their own learning and wellbeing.

The MCHF Student Wellbeing Framework reflects our unwavering dedication to nurturing confident, resilient, and engaged learners. By embedding these key domains into our daily practices, we strive to create a school environment where students feel safe, respected, and inspired to excel.

We look forward to working together as a school community to bring this framework to life and support the wellbeing of every MCHF student.

 

Mr Andrew Pearn                        Mrs Claudia Bou-Melhem

(Head of Wellbeing K-12)          (Engagement Coordinator K-12)

Ms. Emma Dettling, Head of Teaching and Learning

Hello, and thank you, MCHF, for your truly warm and gracious welcome of me to your community. 

 

The Holy Spirit works in curious ways and my path to MCHF follows approximately 15 years of teaching in the Parramatta diocese of Catholic schools, including at Gilroy College in Castle Hill and Bede Polding College in South Windsor, before I found myself surrounded by this faith-filled community of learners. 

 

I bring with me a deep passion for learning, and an even richer desire for all students in my care to reach their potential; academically, spiritually and within the wellbeing spectrum. Teaching and learning are two very specialised and complex activities, and although we all interact with them in various ways throughout our lives, both are based in the establishment of strong relationships, and of a growth-mindset attitude. 

 

What I have discovered in my short time here, by walking through K-12 classrooms and learning spaces, is the educators and support staff at MCHF invest heavily in their relationships within the community. The tapestry of connections resembles (to me) a village, possibly not dissimilar to those of Lebanon, where people care for one another, are invested in each other’s’ success, and work to build on the happiness of one another. In our College community, the relationship between educator and student is rooted in respect and I believe that with strong investment in classroom and leaning routines, in literacy and numeracy dense environments, respect can thrive because each party will reach their potential; the student will learn, and the educator will fulfil their desire to get the most out of their student. 

 

A growth-mindset attitude exists on a continuum, and it is changeable based on many external factors. I am confident, and I have strong data (imperial and qualitative evidence) that tells me the attitude of all teachers at MCHF is for every student to achieve at least one year’s learning for one year’s attendance at this school. This growth mindset attitude will be achieved through assessing where the student currently is, where the student wants to go, followed by articulation of the granular and specific strategies that suit each child for how we are going to get them there. 

 

These words are very idealistic but, in action, this is a particularly difficult feat to achieve, and one that teachers are continually investing their professional learning time into. 

 

As students and families, it is your role to act as allies to teachers so we can fulfil the achievement of comparative learning gain in spiritual, academic and wellbeing realms together. It is a mean-feat but one that MCHF is committed to achieving. If you are open and honest and communicate with your teacher to resolve issues, if you demand clarity from your lessons and the expectations of your work, this relationship and attitude will do miracles to help the teacher to help you achieve your goals. 

 

I look forward to working with you all, we are blessed to be here.  

 

Please contact me at edettling@mchf.nsw.edu.au if you have any concerns, or phone the school to speak or meet with me directly. 

 

Ms. Emma Dettling,

Head of Teaching and Learning (K-12)