Principal's Address
Living and Learning in Uncertain Times
It is hard to comprehend how much our world and our daily life has altered in the last few weeks. And that does not seem to be slowing yet as more and more changes are implemented in response to COVID-19.
At Mater Dei, we have implemented the necessary changes to ensure that our students can continue their learning online and at the same time, remain connected to each other and the College.
CANVAS has allowed staff to recreate their classroom experiences online so no learning time is being lost. Course content is being covered, skills learned and outcomes are being met in every subject area. Homegroup and the daily timetable remain the same - we have simply moved learning from the classroom to online, with the benefit of face to face contact through Zoom.
Our highest priority is supporting the learning of our HSC students. NESA’s recent media release confirmed that the Higher School Certificate (HSC) is going ahead in 2020. In keeping with their commitment to provide clear and regular advice to the community about the HSC as the COVID-19 outbreak continues, they are publishing regular updates from their website. The latest is here. CEDWW is engaging in ongoing communications with NESA and we will keep our students and families informed as we receive further advice.
We have endeavoured to keep our families updated with the changes as they have evolved, whilst at the same time acknowledging that many of us have a sense of feeling overwhelmed by seemingly endless communications around COVID-19 in all areas of our lives. I hope that we have succeeded in providing the information you need to support your children’s learning as we move forward. These are anxious times and if we can assist in any way, please reach out to us so that we can support our students to remain positive and engaged learners on the online platform. Our primary goal is to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of all members of our community as they continue the learning journey through this year.
The College is open for the children of essential workers. They are located in the Resource Centre, socially distanced while they engage in their learning on line and are supervised by Support Staff while teachers are running their own classes online. As advised last week, many teachers are now doing this from home with a minimal core of staff on site each day with me.
Next week there will be no timetabled classes for students in Year 7-12 as staff use this time to prepare for online learning to continue in Term 2. We hope that students will take time at home to consolidate their learning during the four days and prepare for some rest and relaxation during the holiday break.
The College Office has been closed to parents/visitors but office staff are still undertaking their usual duties in a flexible mode. Contact can be made by phone or email in the normal ways. A table has been located at the entry. Labelled hard copies of learning materials requested by families without internet connectivity can be collected there and any last minute enrolment applications can be left in the designated box for processing. It is business as usual but in a very different way for us all! Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We are here for you.
Enrolment Offers for Year 7 2021
After a huge attendance at the Open Night last month, we have had very strong interest in places for next year and a large number of Enrolment Applications for Year 7 2021 have been received.
It was not possible to conduct our usual Enrolment Interviews and the Diocesan Enrolment Policy has been used to inform the process. First Round Offers have been sent out by email today and we look forward to welcoming our new cohort to the College. I'm sure they will be an outstanding Year 7 in 2021.
Any families who have not yet submitted their application are encouraged to do this urgently. The College will not offer places beyond our five streams so late applications may need to be placed on the Waiting List.
If any family who submitted an application has not received a response from the College today, please contact the Registrar Michelle Clarke at clarkem6@ww.catholic.edu.au
The 2021 enrolment process for other years will take place in Term 3 with limited places in the junior year groups.
Our Lenten Journey Towards Easter
In these final weeks of Lent we are focusing on our journey towards the great celebration of Easter as we always do at Mater Dei but social distancing is seeing us move into different modes of community prayer and reflection.
Next week is Holy Week and we remember God’s love for us and look forward to the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. We Christians today are summoned to live, proclaim and celebrate Jesus’ victory over death by resisting all those forms of death and violence that saturate our society and not only unjustly take the lives of innocent people, but can desensitise our spirit and damage our belief in freedom and justice for all. The Resurrection announced that human values cannot be extinguished by violence or death; no one can be forgotten.
Here and now, God holds onto the lives of all the departed including the lives that have been wasted, violently cut short, damaged by oppression. All have worth in God’s sight. There are constant hints of resurrection in our daily lives, foretastes of our ultimate resurrection. These are found daily in our downs and ups, our sorrows and joys, our worries and relief, our disappointments and successes.
We remain uncertain whether attending our traditional Easter Liturgies will be possible but regardless of this, Easter Sunday will offer us all an opportunity to celebrate all our small, personal “resurrections” and unite them with Jesus’ Resurrection. It offers us renewal to be people of faith, hope and love in our home and in our community.
“Lord, in this Holy time we pause to remember that your light can never be extinguished. Help us to believe in this truth so that we may live lives that display your continual illumination in the world. We pray that this Easter we may become more like you. Help us to develop an inner strength that is capable of handling life’s challenging situations. Help us to provide a place in our heart where you reside. Amen.”
This Easter season, may you feel joy in the presence of Jesus and I pray that the love of God is resurrected, reborn and renewed in your heart.