Acting Principal

Holiday Reflection 

Over the first two weeks of the school holidays, my family and I spent two weeks in Bali. The first five days we were by ourselves before our friends and their children joined us in a villa for the last ten days of the trip. One of the things I like about getting away for the holidays is that you are forced to slow down. When you are on holiday at home, there is always something to do, there is always work to catch up on. Going away, the daily hustle and bustle of Sydney is quickly forgotten, and your mind switches off quickly. 

Bali for me brings the ultimate sense of calmness. Life gets slower, the sun is always out, and you are forced to sit by the pool and embrace the silence and enjoy the company of those that are around you. I am lucky enough now that my children are self-sufficient as my youngest daughter is thirteen, and Bali is the type of place where she can walk down the street to get ice-cream by herself and as parents, we feel that she is safe and can navigate her way to the shop. 

That sense of safety comes from the Balinese people. They are genuinely some of the nicest people you will meet in the world. They spend their days looking after tourists, for not a lot of money, yet they keep smiling and asking how they can help you. While they are looking after tourists in nice hotels or villas, they themselves often live more than an hour away in smaller villages and houses that are modest at best. Yet every day, they see the value of work and the value of bringing a smile to their guests’ faces. 

It does make me reflect on how lucky we are in Australia; we live in the best country in the world yet, are we truly happy? We have so much to be thankful for, yet we get lost in the hustle and bustle of city living, trying to keep up with everyone else and when we get stressed or our children fail at something, we sometimes snap and take it out on other people. This is something that you do not see much of in developing countries who, as I have said, have less than us but seem on the outside, to be happier in their general disposition.

Jesus taught us to always look out for the marginalised and the vulnerable. When you travel overseas, you are reminded that there are many who need our help. Our touchstone of Justice and Solidarity calls us to look after those less fortunate than us and work towards peace. In times when things get tough, we need to not lash out at each other, we need to remember that there are many people around the world that need our help. Let us look to open our hearts to the marginalised and those worse off than ourselves and give to those who truly need our help. The easy option is to continue to look after ourselves rather than look outside our own community to those who truly need it.

Staff News

• Mr Antonio Morris has been appointed the Acting Head of Teaching and Learning (Stage 3) replacing Mrs Sarah Tatola who will be Acting Director of the Middle School.  

   

We welcome the following new staff to the College: 

• Mr Lachlan Fear - Director of Co-Curricular (replacing Mr Adam Watson) 

• Mr Berdj Kazandjian, Mathematics Teacher (replacing Ms Amelia Popham) until the end of the year

• Emma Walker, Visual Arts Teacher

• Ms Brunella Pagano, English Teacher (replacing Mr Ricki Allan) 

• Ms Kakoli Kirtania, Science Laboratory Manager (replacing Ms Nithy Baladevan) 

• Mrs Mary Mouawad, Administration Assistant (replacing Mrs Michelle Barr while Mrs Barr covers some of Ms Amanda Omeissah’s role while Ms Omeissah is on a period of Leave) on a temporary part-time basis 

• Mr Roy Zhu, Mathematics Teacher (replacing Mr Reed Earl) 

• Ms Brianna Gray, Primary Teacher (replacing Mrs Yolanda D'Onofrio who is going on a period of parental leave from August).

   

We welcome back the following staff returning from extended leave: 

• Mrs Constance Lukas, HSIE Teacher

• Ms Romina Fisicaro, Languages Teacher 

• Mrs Helen Gibson, Teacher Librarian 

• Mrs Denise Lombardo, English Teacher

• Mrs Renee Buchanan, Secondary Teacher  

In Memoriam

We keep in our prayers Luca and Antony D (Year 11) and their family following the recent passing of their grandfather, Antonio Celani, aged 88. Antonio was also the grandfather of Old Boy Giammarco Celani ('15). May he rest in peace.

Adrian Byrne

Acting Principal