Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

As Semester 1 draws to a close, our students and staff are looking forward to a well-earned winter break. As principal, I look back at our students’ achievements this semester with immense pride; there has been so much to celebrate within our school community. Whether on the sporting field, in the fields of mathematics and science, across the creative and performing arts, through community service, or in individual academic pursuits, our community has truly shone. While we are a smaller school compared to other secondary institutions, we consistently have individual students and teams doing themselves, their families, and O’Connor proud.

In this final week, we conclude the term by celebrating our annual Founder's Day. This is an extremely important occasion where we take the time to remember who we are, where we have come from, and celebrate the rich history and traditions of this great college. We place a clear focus on the Ursuline Sisters and the De La Salle Brothers, who committed themselves to educating the young people of Armidale over 100 years ago.

This year's celebrations hold even greater significance as we come together to mark the official opening of our new performing arts building, to be named the Merici Performing Arts Centre, an outstanding learning facility for our students now and well into the future. Additionally, the Old Merici Centre, which has been refurbished as part of the building works at the college over the past seven years, will be officially renamed the Patrician Centre. This recognizes the Patrician Brothers, who were the first Catholic community to educate boys on this site back in 1889.

We will also take the time to bless and celebrate the 100th anniversary and recent refurbishment of the Angela Building. As the heart of our great college, it has been transformed into a highly advanced learning and administrative hub while beautifully preserving its important historical heritage.

With regret we say farewell to Mr Fleming, who will not be returning next term. Mr Fleming may have only been with us for this term but his positive impact on both staff and students cannot be understated. At this time in the year, we will not be replacing Mr Fleming and will continue our work with Mr Chapman as our only Assistant Principal for the rest of the year. I also wish to farewell Mrs Henwood, who is moving on to take up another opportunity. Mrs Henwood has been an asset and will be missed. I wish both Mr Fleming and Mrs Henwood all the best in their future endeavors.

To all of our students: enjoy your time away from school, stay safe, and return refreshed and ready to learn for Semester 2.

Kind regards,

Mr. Phillip Gibney 

Principal

Return Dates

Monday 20th July - Staff Development Day

Tuesday 21st July  - All students return

Important Dates for Term 3