OLHC School Advisory Council

Dear Families of Our Lady Help of Christians School,

You would have recently seen the announcement that our Principal, Patrick Green, has decided to move on to pursue other opportunities. We would like to thank Patrick for all his work in his time at OLHC and wish him the best in his future endeavours.

As part of this change Mark Pinkerton will take on the role of Acting Principal with the support of the regional leadership team at MACS. Please join us in congratulating Mark on this appointment and we look forward to working with him in the new year.

Whilst we recognise the school has gone through a lot of change over the last 12 months, it is worth reflecting on the great achievements over this time. To have our first uninterrupted school year is something we all thought wouldn’t happen after the last 2 years. The fantastic community spirit that OLHC prides itself on has been evident in the multiple events for both the children and adults run by the reformed PFOL. We have a settled teaching structure moving into 2023 following on from multiple recent changes and look forward to the new ideas and energy that come from new staff appointments. We have a renewed canteen for the children and changes to the uniform with new items added, which is acting on feedback from our school community.

As you all are aware the School Advisory Council is an important part of our school. School Advisory Councils are an essential component of supporting the governance and  operations of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. They provide a forum for consultation and participation for parish and school communities. Through discussion the Advisory act on behalf of all children and parents within the school community.  We welcome all feedback from parents at any time to ensure all voices are heard.

We farewell long-standing School Advisory Council members Jacki Landy, Mark Noonan, Faith Bell, and Damian Barber. We thank them for being part of the School Advisory Council and for their input and commitment to our school. We welcome new members to the School Advisory Council Kristy Williams, Catherine Donoghue and Sharon Walker. 

2023 will be a year of more change, as we welcome a new principal and new teaching staff to our community. We also look forward to welcoming the new families for 2023. 

We have also received feedback regarding communication from the school to parents and carers and have taken this onboard. To begin the year we will be running a Parent Information Session in February to allow the community to come together to provide an opportunity to hear about the school year ahead, the exciting community events planned and to provide an opportunity for us and the school to gain insights from the wider parent group.  We will have a date for this early in Term 1 and encourage everyone to attend.

We hope you have a great break over the Christmas period with family and friends and look forward to seeing you all in 2023 as part of the fantastic community we have at OLHC.

Regards,

Kate Lewis and Mark Lafferty