From the Senior Leadership

2026 Update: Changes to the first 797 Bus Access

As we prepare for the 2026 school year, we would like to inform families of an important update regarding student access to the first 797 bus in the afternoons.

The first 797 service continues to operate primarily as a school bus for students who rely on it daily to travel home. To ensure that these students can board safely and comfortably, the College will be updating the verification of students requiring this service and implementing a priority boarding system for the year ahead. Students who require to catch a connecting bus at the station or live in areas that require use of this service will be identified and issued with a priority boarding pass and red dots will cease as of 2026. This pass must be presented each day before boarding. Please note, if a student forgets her pass, she will not be able to board the bus.

We understand that many of our girls are involved in part-time employment, sports, and other extracurricular commitments. However, we kindly ask families to understand that the first 797 bus cannot be used to accommodate these additional commitments—particularly on Thursdays, when demand is especially high. We trialled this process this year, however, girls who required the use of the bus still missed out at times. There is, however, a second 797 bus for students to catch that leaves at 3pm.

If your daughter has work or sporting responsibilities, she will need to:

Catch her usual bus home, then make her way to her afternoon commitments

Organise after school commitments to commence after allowing travel time when catching the second 797 bus leaving the College at 3pm. OR
Arrange an alternate pick-up from the College.

We appreciate that this may require some adjustment. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding and hope this early information can assist in your child's preparation for 2026. Our priority is ensuring that students who genuinely rely on the 797 for their journey home can do so without difficulty.

To assist with this process, students have been sent an email with a link for a Google form survey. This form only needs to be completed by students that need to catch the first 797 bus. The survey needs to be completed by 8:30am on Wednesday 10th December. Please note that each sibling should fill in their own form. Students in Year 7, 2026 will have the opportunity to fill in this form in their first week of school.

As a Catholic community grounded in respect and care for one another, we ask for your continued partnership as we put this system in place for the wellbeing and safety of all girls.

Mrs Julie Petrovski and Ms Debbie White

Assistant Principals