Leadership's Letter

The term has begun well and it is amazing that so much has been done since term three finished. While many, during the term break, were interstate enjoying the Queensland sun, or basking in the glory of a Collingwood premiership, the staff of Mazenod was busy preparing the school for the final term. Our Maintenance team of Marc, Michael, and Vince, packed down the exam halls that were used for our September trial exams, they cleared furniture from the middle corridor of the main building in readiness for the next stage of the renovation program, and they organised trades and ensured that all the minor repair jobs, that cannot be done while students and staff are present, were completed and signed off. 

Brendan and Amin, our grounds team, worked tirelessly to ensure that gardens and lawns were immaculate and ready for the tours of our final open morning. The turf wicket was renovated, and, despite the rain and poor weather, the deck is greening up nicely and will be ready for the coming cricket season. Any contractor that we employ to assist with our wickets is astounded at the traffic that our wickets must endure. In some weeks there can be up to four games of cricket being played on the Johnson Oval.

In the front office, the work never stops. Under the direction of Lynne, staff were busy preparing resources for our Night of Excellence, which was held at Monash University on the 12th of October. The amount of work that goes into this occasion is amazing and it is the major project that occupied their working day. For Rohan, our Marketing and Communications guru, it is the Mazenodian, our College magazine, that placed the greatest demands on his time. Not only was he busily working on publishing the historical record of our school year, but he was also editing footage of school events that were used at Robert Blackwood Hall. 

Our finance team prepared budgets, paid bills, and ensured that all books were balanced. Without them, the College could not run. Richard, our print room manager ensured that all printing requests, particularly those required by the Unit 3 and 4 teachers, were ready for distribution, During term 4 the demand for his services certainly increased as study material and information for our transition program were needed by teaching staff. 

During the September break our IT staff worked tirelessly to ensure that our network services run effectively. They took the opportunity to troubleshoot and upgrade systems at a time when IT traffic was at a time of low demand. They replaced old equipment, integrated the renovated corridors into the new server area, and protected systems from a planned power outage that was necessary for the completion of stage six of the building works. Merry oversaw the commissioning of new AV material and ensured all audiovisual equipment was up and running for the beginning of the term. Their work is invaluable and ensures that our systems are secure and effective. 

A multitude of exams were administered by Mark and Stef and these certainly assist students in realising what needs to be revised prior to the VCAA exams which commence in mid-October. 

Manual and fine arts support personnel prepared raw materials that could be used in wood and art classes and Adrian in Sports was inventorying gear and equipment so that ACC and inter-house sports could run smoothly. Volleyball coaches ran clinics for their teams and the program was expertly overseen by Rosie Welsford, a remarkable effort seeing she was recovering from a foot operation.

I would be amiss if I didn’t mention Jo, Mie, Natsumi, and Ian who led a Japanese immersion tour so that students would gain a greater understanding of the Japanese language and culture. And while we had a group overseas, we also had a team in Brisbane that participated in the Ignite conference, a national Catholic youth ministry event. The young men were supervised by Cristiano, Jennifer, and Tina. The generosity of these staff in not only giving up their holidays but selflessly sacrificing family time is certainly appreciated.  

We should not forget our classroom teachers who were busy marking exams or preparing units of work, and the Oblate priests who were busy assisting in parish work and supporting those in our community who were in need. 

Mazenod is a busy place at the best of times, it certainly doesn’t stop for holidays! If you happen to run into the staff who gave up their time during holidays, please take the opportunity to thank them. It is the collective efforts of all that make Mazenod such a great community!

Tony Rolfe

Deputy Principal (Operations & Compliance)