Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers

We are now well into Term 2. Term 2 is a very important one for consolidation of learning especially with our Senior students in Year 11 and 12. The focus this term for all students should be on setting up strong home learning structures to build on the learning that happens at school. It is vital to set up good habits right from Year 7 so as to consolidate understanding of key concepts and skills. Please refer to our home learning policy in the student diary. I have included below the expectations in regards to home learning (please note the 4 Ps refer to Practice, Preparation, Participation and Personal Development):

Child Protection

I refer to the conviction of a former teacher for assault of a student during his time at O’Connor in 1983. The former teacher was found guilty last week in Armidale. The ramifications of crimes like these can not be underestimated and the grief of the victim is at the forefront of our minds and hearts.

Our Child Protection and mandatory reporting have strengthened considerably since that time. Please be assured that we continue to implement a rigorous, comprehensive Child Protection Policy, strengthened in accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

We should never forget, that in any matter of this nature, our concern and prayers are

with the victim and their families. I apologise for the hurt that this incident has caused. Please be assured that our school system works tirelessly to ensure the safety of every child in our schools, and will continue to do so, as together we share the responsibility for the wellbeing of your children. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or the Catholic Schools Office. Counselling is also available for all members of our community through Centacare.

Catholic Schools Week

Monday 27th May sees the beginning of Catholic Schools Week in our Diocese. The theme Mission Learn Care is the same as our system conference and encapsulates the vision for our community, students, staff, parents, carers, parish and friends. We will have a number of events during this week including Catholic Schools Week Mass which will be held in the Cathedral on Wednesday 29th May at 11am. I extend a warm invitation for all parents and friends to join us. We will be leading the music at this Mass and our Year 9s will attend as our representatives. We will also host our second STEP (Stage Three Transition Program) for Year 5 students from our Catholic Feeder schools. This is a great opportunity to forge stronger links with our schools in the local area.

Mr Simon Fleming

I would like to congratulate Mr Simon Fleming on his appointment to the position of Acting Principal at St Joseph’s, Barraba from the 3rd June 2019 to 20th December 2019. We wish Simon all the best in this new position. Our loss is Barraba’s gain and we look forward to Simon returning in 2020. Simon will spend one day a fortnight at O’Connor working with Year 11 and 12 Modern History.

Mr Damian Roff will be Acting Assistant Principal for the remainder of Term 2 and Denise Fittler will be Acting REC. I thank both Damian and Denise for taking on these roles.

Staffing Changes

I would like to congratulate Mrs Cheryl Leggatt and Mr Andrew May who are taking on a co-leading role as Leader of Learning (HSIE) replacing Mrs Lorna Ahern. We are very excited to work with Cheryl and Andrew in a co-leading role and to further our improvement agenda to embed collaboration in our learning work at the College.

I welcome Mr Patrick Turley to our staff in a temporary position as Year 12 Business Studies teacher. Mr Turley is an experienced educator and we are looking forward to him joining us and teaching our HSC Business Studies students.

Ms Jessica Armfield will be taking on a new role as junior HSIE and English teacher for the remainder of the year. Jess has been working at O’Connor in many roles and we are happy for her to join us in this new role. She will be taking over Mrs Ahern’s junior classes as well as some of Mr May and Mr Osborne’s classes.

Mrs Shane Moffitt will join us for 6 weeks replacing Ms Yolanda Kreuzen while she is on leave. Shane will join the English KLA and also work in the Learning Hub in the Leveled Literacy Program. Mrs Katie Biddle will be Acting Year 7 Pastoral Academic Care Leader during this time.

Pupil Free Days

A reminder that our System Conference for all staff of our Diocese will be held on Tuesday 11th June and Wednesday 12th June. These days are pupil free and the school will be closed during this time.

The theme for the conference is Mission Learn Care. We look forward to joining all staff from across our Diocese for this conference.

NAPLAN

As you might have read in the media, the online platform for NAPLAN this year had some technical difficulties. These were not at the school or Diocesan level but at the National level. Our students did so well, trying their best and did not let it distress them. ACARA and NESA have set up opportunities for students to resit the tests if students wish. The main outages on Tuesday afternoon (14th May) effected 9/1 and 9/5. Parents have all been notified of the opportunity to resit the writing assessment from this day.

Reminder - Compass

Have you downloaded the Compass App? We will be using Compass for notifications and stop using skoolbag as our understanding of Compass increases. If you need help with Compass or have lost log-in details etc please contact the front office staff for assistance.

What new learning will you undertake this week?

Thank you

Regina Menz