Principal's Message

Good afternoon parents & carers,

At the beginning of the week when I sat down to ponder my Principal's message for this issue of the newsletter, I had grand plans to celebrate yet another example of student excellence at St Philomena's with the scheduled secondary MAD (Music, Art & Design) Evening (which had already been postponed due to the Queen's passing public holiday). Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans for our MAD night causing yet another postponement to what would have been an incredible night where our secondary students would showcase their creative talents.  Stay tuned for a rescheduled date.  I think I have heard someone say "third time's a charm!".  After such a successful Primary Concert our Secondary students are ready to shine!

It is with sadness that I announce the retirement of Mr Paul Cooke (Grounds and Maintenance).  Mr Cooke has been a vital member of our school community since taking up the position at the beginning of 2019.  On behalf of the staff and students, I would like to personally thank Mr Cooke for his dedication and support to ensure our students have access to a safe and well maintained school playground and wish him all the very best in his retirement.

On another note, it is with excitement that I welcome Miss Melita Roache to our St Philomena's Professional Learning Community as the new Leader of Curriculum K-10. Melita joins us after nine years at O'Connor Catholic College, Armidale as a Secondary Religious Education Coordinator, teacher of secondary Music and Religious Education. Melita was also a member of the college's middle and senior leadership and holds a Bachelor of Music, a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) and is currently completing her Masters of Education Leadership.  Further to her curriculum responsibilities, Melita is teaching Year 7 & Year 10 Religious Education along with supporting learning in Year 3 (Religious Education).  Melita has already settled in well and I look forward to the many contributions she will bring to our school.  On behalf of our school community, welcome!

In closing, I would like to thank the all the staff and a large number of secondary students for their support in relocating furniture from potential flood impacted areas of our school this week. On Wednesday, the school started strategically relocating resources and furniture from low level learning spaces to ensure flood impact is minimised over the coming days.  We learnt many valuable lessons from the 2021 flood, one being that simply lifting items above possible flood levels isn't enough to prevent financial loss of resources. Thank you so much to our wonderful staff.  Their dedication to our school continues to amaze and inspire me.

To our families, I pray that you remain safe over the coming days as we all prepare for possible flooding.  In the event the school is impacted, we will communicate with our families through the COMPASS Portal. 

Finally, I would like to thank the Moree SES for their extremely amusing post throughout the week regarding the 'bush telegraph'.  For those in our school community that haven't had the chance to read the post I have included an extract for your entertainment.

"The Bureau of Meteorology is suggesting isolated heavy rainfall is predicted, but any rumours of flooding similar to the 1955 event are completely unfounded.  Just because your barista was talking to a lady at childcare drop off, whose husband overheard two blokes at the pub last night talking about a teammate they know from cricket training, whose mother knows someone who lived through the 1955 floods, who reckons it could get to 1955 levels, doesn't always make it true..." 

God bless and keep safe during these times

Jamie McDowall

Principal