Dear Colleagues,

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is a day to recognise, commemorate and remember the more than 1.5 million service men and women who have served our country in all conflicts, wars and peacekeeping operations. It was heartening to see how each of our schools joined their local community at Dawn Services and Marches. The level of participation showed the respect our young people and their families along with our staff have for those who served and ones who lost their lives serving in conflicts.

St Philomena’s Opening of New Facilities

It was a privilege to join Bishop Murphy, Principal Alistair Stewart, Dallas McInernay, CEO Catholic Schools NSW, Mr Jamie Chaffey MP, Member for Parkes Mr Brendan Moylan MP, Member for Northern Tableland, Mrs Sharon Cooke, CSNSW, Cr Susannah Pearse, Mayor Moree Shire Council Fr Saji and Fr John and especially the students, staff, families, parish and the Moree community at the official opening of the new and refurbished facilities at St Philomena’s Moree. A huge thank you to St Philomena’s staff for all your hard work preparing for this event.

Included below are some extracts from my speech, highlighting the collaboration between stakeholders to bring about such a wonderful outcome for our students and staff at St Philomena’s.

Strong and robust learning occurs when students, staff and families work in positive partnerships. Students taking ownership of their learning and knowing where they are going and how to get there, teachers who are strong in their pedagogical and content knowledge, caring for young people and our parents and families, the first and continuing educators of our young people, supporting and nurturing learning.

It is important to note that great buildings do not necessarily lead to great learning, it is the people that do that and the way they use space. The buildings play an integral part in creating positive environments and enabling conditions for great learning to happen.

St Philomena’s has created a positive learning environment where excellence thrives in the Moree community since 1898 beginning with the Mercy Sisters and that has continued with committed lay people.

This new and updated building can only lead to improved learning for all our students. The ability to collaborate and communicate is enhanced by these state of the art facilities. With this building students and staff can enjoy an agile learning space incorporating contemporary teaching practices, furnishings and technologies.

My thanks to - The project team of Regional Project Managers Australia, Glendenning Szoboszlay Architects, builders North Construction and Building and Armidale Catholic Schools Office colleagues, in particular Facilities Advisor Linda Page.

The ongoing contribution that Catholic education makes to Australian society must also be recognised on occasions like this. The legacy of the Sisters of Mercy in the development of St Philomena's is a credit to our Catholic educational pioneers. The school provides the opportunity to tell our Catholic story. We are promoting God's mission in our world and challenging the secular world with values that are often counter-cultural. Pope Leo tells us that ‘educating’ is an act of hope and that is evident here at St Philomena’s.

As we celebrate this wonderful new development, let us appreciate the importance of this school in the mission of the Church and the contribution that we make to excellence and equity in our rural and remote setting in NSW.

Congratulations - Kim Bailey

Congratulations to Kim Bailey from Holy Trinity, who has completed Module 1 of her Lead Teacher Accreditation Submission. All ten standard descriptors have been addressed. Her assessor's feedback highlighted that Kim’s module showed evidence-informed practice and effective leadership of professional learning at the nominated career stage. The evidence in the module demonstrated that the applicant shares effective practice with colleagues and applies knowledge about how students learn. Kim’s module also demonstrated a strong connection between evidence-informed practice, data-driven decision-making and student/child growth .

Kim's module was outstanding and reflected the significant contribution and impact she has had across the school, particularly during the transition to K-12. Kim will now prepare for her site visit and Module 2. Congratulations Kim!

Thank you to Jilly Rainger and Millie Woolaston for their support of Kim throughout the process.

Congratulations Bruce Myers

Congratulations to Bruce Myers, O’Connor Catholic College on winning the 2026 Australian National Band Championships Open Tenor Horn Event. This is the second year in a row that Bruce has won this prestigious award and is testament to his skill and passion for music. Bruce works to bring this same passion to his students at O’Connor including providing opportunities for ensemble groups from O’Connor to play at community events. Congratulations Bruce. A fantastic achievement.

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