College Advisory Committee

College Advisory Committee Meeting 

Tuesday 11 June 2024 

Account provided by Corinne Hodder, Parent Representative 

The College Advisory Committee gathered in the Marist-Sion Chapel on Tuesday 11 June 2024 for our second meeting this year. It was wonderful to see so many parents old and new as well as staff representatives engaged in participating and connecting more with our College.   

After a welcome and opening prayer our invited guest Tammy Beck, Director of Williams Ross Architects Pty Ltd led the group into a discussion of ideas and thoughts about the future development of the College and all its possibilities. We workshopped ideas as groups around a map of the College to pinpoint where we saw the heart of the community. Conversation expanded and flowed from there. 

The minutes from the last Annual General Meeting was confirmed, followed by a presentation of the Annual Report to the School Community 2023 which was presented by Lisa Harkin. This report detailed priority areas worked across the previous year. One area discussed, was that the trend in student absenteeism has improved since COVID; however, there is still improvement to be made to get the student attendance rate up to 90+%. Currently the College is sitting at an average attendance rate of 84.3%. 

Another area of interest raised during the meeting was how we could activate more parental engagement and connection within the College. The Subject Selection Information Evening was one example whereby parents could be more involved and connected with their child’s learning and teachers and the feedback received was very positive. Please forward any ideas you may have on how we can get parents more involved within the school community. 

I would love to acknowledge and thank Mrs Kim Caldwell who sadly ended her term with us as a Parent Representative on the College Advisory Committee. Kim was member of the College Advisory Committee for 6 years which is a wonderful achievement. You will be missed Kim your input and time is appreciated. 

Thank you also to Mrs Silvia Pongracic who was happy to continue as our Chairperson and Mrs Naomi Simpson appointed as Deputy Chairperson.  

Lisa Harkin presented the Principal’s Report for Term 2. An item of interest from the report was that College welcomed 6 new teaching staff and 19 Education Support Staff. Many of the additional Education Support Staff appointments were to support staff on maternity and parental leave. 

Further to that the College allocated $100,000 of this year’s budget towards curriculum innovations. Teachers were able to make submissions of what resources they felt would benefit and support student learning. There have been many items where grants have been approved to date, some include the Venco Pottery Wheels and 3D Printers among many other items. 

The planning for the upcoming 50 Year Celebration is now underway as Planning Committee Members met for their first meeting during Term 1. Watch out for more information as planning progresses. Some items of interest that the Planning Committee will look to explore, and gather are shared stories from Old Collegians and former staff. Lisa Harkin shared with us the Marist-Sion Heart which now takes pride of place in the Marist-Sion Chapel. The Marist-Sion Heart contains all the names of current student and staff. A relic of St Marcellin Champagnat as gifted by Des Nugent in memory of this brother Daniel is also displayed alongside the Marist-Sion Heart. This is a representation of the family spirit. 

The night ended with a discussion and questions from parents.