Principal's Report

On a recent Sunday afternoon I attended a Mass which was held in honour of Fr John O’Reilly who retires in early August. Archbishop Denis Hart was joined by two Bishops and twelve Priests together with a couple of thousand parishioners, well wishers and Father John O'Reilly’s family. Fr O’Reilly started his priestly duties at St Albans in 1968, and in 1973 was appointed as Parish Priest. In 1978 the first Catholic secondary school in the area, namely CRC St Albans opened. Since then CRC Colleges have opened at Melton (est.1980), Sydenham (1982) North Keilor (1982) and in more recent times Caroline Springs (2007). Fr O’Reilly has been the Canonical Administrator for these five Catholic Secondary Colleges, and three Catholic Primary Schools , Sacred Heart St Albans (est 1954), Emmaus (1997) and Cana (2004). It was an honour to share in this celebration of Father’s life, he has been an inspiration to many including me. I know that each of us has our own story of the way in which Father John O'Reilly has impacted on our lives. He has cared for and shown compassion when we needed it most and tended to us as his flock ministering to the community’s spiritual needs so that we could deepen our relationship with God and know Jesus in our lives. Sister Judith and all involved in the preparation of the Mass did a magnificent job in planning a beautiful celebration of the Eucharist that saw so many gather as a Faith filled people of the Eucharist. It was truly lovely to see Father O’Reilly enjoy the afternoon so much and to see a small fraction of the lives he has changed. Thank you Fr John and best wishes for the next part of your life’s journey.

During Term 2, the College received new locks for the lockers that were causing problems for students. The manufacturer recalled all of the locks as it appeared they were faulty. We had been arguing this point for quite some time and were elated when boxes of new replacement locks arrived with a recall notice for the 400 being used across the College. Over the holidays the College hired people to install these replacement locks and should now have the issues rectified that had plagued the new lockers. I thank all students and families for their patience as we tried valiantly to resolve the matter with the manufacturer.

This Term is critical for Year 12 VCE students as they complete their final Unit of work in each subject area. Unit 4 is somewhat condensed so that there is adequate time to prepare for the exams and revise the entire course form the start of the year. Year 12 students do not really have a ‘holiday’ period now until they finish their exams. The usual break between Term 3 and 4 is scheduled for the VCE Trial Exams. Those students who have chosen a scored VCE pathway are required to complete trial examinations in order to be eligible to sit their final exam at the College. Students must take these exams seriously and do their utmost to complete each and every questions so that staff may provide detailed feedback. Staff will provide students with additional information regarding exams while families should watch for a special edition door hanger that will list all of the Year 11 and Year 12 Trial Exam dates as well as the official end of year exam dates with times. Please hang this in a place where you can refer to it often.

Brendan J Watson OAM

Principal