Principal's Report

Dear O’Connor Catholic community,

I would like to welcome you all back to a new term. This is my first Armidale Winter and I am in awe of the beautiful frosts in the morning. The frost has a way of making the ‘ordinary’ sparkle in the sunshine. There is nothing more magical than driving past the Oval and Front Lawn in the morning and seeing it covered in a blanket of white. I know this must sound strange when most of you have seen frost every year.

It is amazing how a different perspective can have such a powerful effect on us. I am a firm believer in looking on the positive side of life. That doesn’t mean that there are no times when life is difficult or hard. It just means that in life I get to control how I view any situation. My perspective will dictate how I feel and respond. We all have a choice in how we feel, speak and behave. This is our ‘locus of control’.

I have always been concerned with how easy it is to think, feel and speak in a negative way. We seem programmed to find fault in our world. ‘It’s a cold and miserable day’ is a good example of how we can easily fall into a negative perspective. When we arrive at school in the morning it may be cold but we get to choose whether it is miserable. This term we have an opportunity to reset our perspective. It doesn’t take much to smile, enjoy the sunshine, use our voices to inspire others and remember that being kind and positive can make someone’s day. 

Year 11 2023 Subject Selection Information Evening

I would like to thank all of our Year 10 parents for coming to our Information evening either in person or online. It was a great opportunity to come together and support our Year 10 students as they begin the process. 

Year 7 2023 Enrolments

In these first few weeks I have had the pleasure of meeting our Year 7 2023 students and their families. I am enjoying getting to know our current families and those who are about to begin the adventure of high school. Our welcome letters will be sent to our new Year 7 students and their families next week.

 If you have children wanting to join our community please call our Enrolments Officer Mrs Amanda Howard as soon as possible.

Lasallian Youth Gathering

I am very grateful to Mrs Mellissa Bell, Mr Shane McCann and Mr Brad Powers for supervising our students at the Lasallian Youth Gathering in the first week of the holidays. The positive feedback from both our students and staff has been inspirational. We are looking forward to the next gathering in two years time.

God Bless,

Clare Healy

Principal