From the Principal

Benvenuto - Welcome

Yesterday I was the recipient of a delightful phone call from Senator Jana Stewart. Senator Stewart was able to inform me that St Anne’s College had been successful in securing funding towards the building of the next stage of our college master plan. We look forward to sharing more information as the building planning progresses. 

Feast of Christ the King and Advent

Last Sunday marked the Feast of Christ the King (the name of the church in St Mel’s Parish). This special feast day was celebrated in the parish with almost 150 parishioners enjoying celebrations across the day with plenty of multicultural food and entertainment, reflecting and celebrating the diversity of the parish community. The Feast of Christ the King marks the end of Ordinary Time in the Catholic church’s liturgical calendar and we now move into the season of Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical year. 

The first Sunday of Advent is this coming Sunday. Advent is a time of preparation, readiness and waiting, the anticipation of the birth of Jesus and what joy that represents for us as a Catholic community. The word ‘advent’ is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”. We observe Advent as a four-week period of spiritual preparation, anticipating the birth of Jesus. Advent marks the beginning of the Church Calendar Year (Year A this year). Year A commences this Sunday, November 27, and is the first Sunday of Advent. 

We use symbols such as candles, wreaths and prayer cloths to symbolise the period of time. Within the Advent wreath there are four coloured candles representing each Sunday in Advent; three violet and one rose (in the third week) - there is sometimes a white candle representing Christmas. As one candle is lit each week, it strengthens the image that the light of hope grows each week. Each week for the rest of the year, the college will hold a short Advent liturgy, lighting each candle as we go. These liturgies will be held at 2:45pm on the following days: 

Week 1: Monday, November 28 

Week 2: Monday, December 5 

Week 3: Monday, December 12 

Week 4: Wednesday, December 14 

Families are most welcome to attend the liturgies.

Inaugural Year 10 College Formal

The big event looms closer as the Year 10 Formal preparations continue. The students have been diligently practising their dancing skills under the expert tutelage of Learning Support Leader Leesa Shannon and St Mel's Parish Pastoral Council Chair Xavier Tanner. The organising committee consists of a dedicated band of staff and students who have been meeting on a regular basis to prepare for the event. It is sure to be a great success! For more information about the formal and photos from dance rehearsal please see the 'Learning Updates - School of Possibilities' page in this edition of il giornale.

Student-free days 2023

We are currently drafting the student-free days schedule for 2023. We are allocated 12 student-free days across the school year. These days provide opportunity to engage in professional development and learning in line with college priorities. The schedule of days will be communicated to families as soon as the schedule has been considered through our Principal Consultant from Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd.

Mental health in primary schools

Catholic primary schools across the Goulburn Valley have been selected as the first region for the expansion of funding for a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing (0.4 FTE). The program is based on a successful pilot created in collaboration by the Department of Education and Training, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne. The Victorian Government is providing $200 million over four years and $93.7 million ongoing to expand the program across all government and low-fee-paying non-government schools in Victoria. This is a great opportunity for the college to expand our work in the space of mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Staffing updates

We continue our staffing recruitment as we prepare for the 2023 school year. This year has been particularly difficult to secure teaching staff for our growing college; the teacher shortage is an issue for all schools, but as an establishing school, it has been particularly challenging for St Anne’s College. This has impacted on the timeline in communicating staffing loads and teacher allocations and we continue to work in this space to ensure that staff and families get information regarding 2023 as soon as we possibly can. Some of our recent employments have included specialist and core teachers, a Religious Education Leader and various administration staff. We are now beginning a fresh round of advertising to continue the recruitment process where we will be looking to attract teaching staff and education support staff. Please see the 'Our Staff' page for the multiple positions that are being advertised. 

End-of-year celebrations

As we near the end of the 2022 school year, we begin the preparations for end-of-year celebrations. On Thursday, December 8, we will have our end-of-year Mass celebration at Christ the King Church at 9:45am. The annual Christmas community picnic concert will be held at the college from 5:30pm – 7:00pm on December 8. All community members are welcome to these events.

 - Susan Carroll, Principal

NOVEMBER

Brooke Linnett; Chase Morgan; Jesse Peters; Aria Spadaro; Catherine Watts; Xavier Wynn; Manjot Rana; Charlie Nind; Lara Stevens; Riley Moreno; Manjot Kaur; Nate Rowston; Lila Guthrie; Bodhi Tremellen; Ava Harrington; Courtney Miller; Jorja Neff; Ella Crifo; Lachlan L'Estrange; William L'Estrange; Marshall Skinner; Harry Beckingham; Riley Kilgour; Tilly Parr; Stella Tormey; Lucas Ventura; Deborah Cooper; Tyler Jamieson; Ella Hibble; Stephen Kealy; Nikea Grinter

Thanks to the following businesses for supporting St Anne's College:

 Adornato's - for landscaping supplies 

 Intercontinental Spares - for the 40ft shipping container

 ConX Hire - for the VMS display board