Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 5's newsletter.

Today marks the beginning of Catholic Schools Week with its theme - 'Pray with Hope'.

Catholic Schools Week is a time to celebrate and reflect on the value and contributions of Catholic education. It is an opportunity for us to reflect upon our positive impact as educators on the lives of the young people in our care. The theme, Pray with Hope, allows us to think about hope in our Christ-centred learning community and pray for a hope-filled future for all of our students. Boggabri Coal has invited our school to partake in a tree planting project this week, which aligns beautifully with this year's theme for Pope Francis' Laudato Si, Seeds of Hope. This theme seeks to establish a connection between Laudato Si Week and Creation. This whole school tree planting project will enable students to regenerate trees in our community and support us in understanding the invitation to pay attention to the expressions of faith, hope and love in our world and our daily living.

National Simultaneous Storytime is held annually; our students participated in it last week.

Our school actively participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime, an annual event that unites libraries, schools, preschools, childcare centres, family homes, and bookshops across the country. This year, we delved into the enchanting world of 'Bowerbird Blues,' a picture book written and illustrated by the talented Australian author, Aura Parker.  To make this experience even more special, we invited the Ooranga Boggabri Preschool students to our school for a live reading session. Our Year 3-6 students, in a heartwarming display of camaraderie, assisted the Preschool children in designing and decorating their very own Bowerbird using paper plates and an assortment of blue-coloured craft supplies.

"Bowerbird Blues" is a beautiful text that also highlights this year's Laudato Si Week theme and aligns nicely with our community tree planting project.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Armidale Catholic Schools Principal's Conference in Armidale. The conference provided a valuable platform for us to enhance our leadership skills and an opportunity to strengthen our network connections with other Principals in our Diocese. We had the honour of working with Catherine Jackson, a renowned leadership consultant who has been instrumental in delivering professional development and building the capacity of leaders and teams of leaders in partnership with Armidale Catholic Schools. The focus of our sessions was on Soliciting Feedback and using it as a catalyst for our continuous improvement as leaders. 

Wishing everyone a productive and rewarding Week 5!

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or concerns.

Warm regards,

Claire Ryan

Principal