Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

NAIDOC Week - Heal Country

This week we celebrate NAIDOC Week. Although the official week for NAIDOC Week is early July, we wait until the warmer weather so that we can run cultural events for our students and staff. Healing Country means embracing First Nation's cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of our Australian heritage. At O’Connor, we celebrated with many activities including a flag raising and prayer via zoom with the whole school and smoking ceremonies. 

HSC Exams Begin

At last! Year 12 began their HSC Exams with English on Tuesday. Our students continue to show remarkable resilience and stamina and we wish them well as they complete their final assessments. The final exam at O’Connor is Hospitality on Wednesday 1st December. We pray for our students and all Year 12 students across NSW

Spirit of God,

in a special way, be with all who are doing their HSC exams;

Spirit of Wisdom,

enlighten our students and

Focus their minds so that they will be able

to answer each question clearly & concisely;

Spirit of God,

grant them peace of mind & calmness of soul;

We ask this prayer through Christ our Lord

Amen

St Angela Merici…………. Pray for us

St John Baptist De La Salle…………… Pray for us

St Mary of the Cross Mackillop…………… Pray for us

Live Jesus in our hearts…………… Forever

(adapted from http://www.stcronanscluster.ie/files/Exam-Prayers-website.pdf)

Annual Improvement Plan 2022

We have been reflecting and reviewing our vision and collaborating with Catholic Schools Office to formulate our Annual Improvement Plan for 2022. We have used data provided by staff, CSO and the information from parents, staff and students completed to inform our AIP. Our key focus areas continue to be: Faith, Learning and Collaboration. We continue to strive to achieve learning for all, where learning encapsulates our faith, academic and wellbeing aspects. Our AIP forms the basis of all our work as we work collaboratively to move our learning forward.

On Wednesday 3rd November, we joined (via zoom) with the other two high schools in our Diocese, McCarthy Catholic College, Tamworth and St Mary’s College, Gunnedah to reflect on our work in 2021 and our 2022 Annual Improvement Plan. The opportunity to collaborate with the other high schools is a vital component of our shared responsibility and accountability. 

What new learning will you undertake this week?

Regina Menz