From the Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School

New Staff

The final edition of the Newsletter for this term provides an opportunity to introduce the remaining new staff who have joined us at St Gregory’s College this year. 

Daniel Brennan

Mr Brennan has been appointed as a Live-in Boarding Supervisor. Daniel graduated from St Gregory’s College at the end of 2019 and he then moved north to live and work in Cairns in 2020. We are very pleased Daniel has made the decision to rejoin our community, and we know he will make a very positive and valuable contribution to the lives of the Boarding students and more generally to all students through his work in supervision, coaching and mentoring.  

Finn Hastie

Mr Hastie is one of two Immersion GAP 

students working at the College this year. The Immersion GAP is a new initiative instituted by Mr Morrissey, in collaboration with other Marist Boarding Schools. Finn graduated from Marist College Canberra at the end of 2020 and this year he will be working across the College to support staff and students in a wide range of areas. Duties include, among many others; supporting students with their learning, coaching sporting teams, being an active presence and supervisor in Boarding and completing medical runs for the Boarding community. Finn has already established himself as a committed member of the staff and an excellent role model for the students.

Lelyan Ishak

Ms Ishak joins the staff as an additional part-time Counsellor, providing support to students across both the Junior School and Senior School. Lelyan completed her undergraduate Bachelor of Psychology and post-graduate Masters of Psychotherapy and Counselling at the University of Western Sydney. Prior to St Gregory’s College, she worked in both primary and secondary schools and, most recently, she was a Senior Intake Clinician at Headspace. Among her other experiences, Lelyan has held a counselling role at the Melbourne Institute of Technology and she has also worked as a telephone crisis supporter with Lifeline.

Lindsay Munro

Mr Munro has also been appointed as an Immersion GAP student for 2021. Lindsay was both a College Student Leader and Boarding Leader at St Gregory’s College in 2020 and he has taken up this new opportunity with great enthusiasm. Lindsay has been very active in supporting a wide range of College events and also providing excellent support to both staff and students, especially the members of the Boarding community. We thank him for accepting this position and for his commitment to the College.

Raquel Russo

Ms Russo recently joined the teaching staff of the College as an HSIE teacher. Raquel has taught a range of courses in the HSIE area, including Stage 6 Geography and Stage 4 & 5 History and Geography and she also has experience teaching Stage 4 Music and Stage 4 and 6 Religious Education. Prior to commencing her tertiary studies, Raquel was awarded the Executive Director’s Teaching Scholarship from Sydney Catholic Schools which meant that she completed her undergraduate studies as a targeted graduate.  Raquel holds a Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Teaching (Humanities), with a Major in Geography and Minor in Religious Education and Music and also a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Major in Geography, both from the Australian Catholic University.

We thank each of these staff members for taking on their respective roles and we wish them a very enjoyable and rewarding time at St Gregory’s College.

Drop-off and pick-up arrangements

The drop-off and pick-up arrangements at the Western Gate have settled into a reasonably good pattern. Whilst there are some slight delays during the afternoons, the flow of traffic at most other times is steady. If there is the opportunity for families to delay the pick-up in the afternoon by ten to fifteen minutes, this will further improve the situation. Sincere thanks to the overwhelmingly vast majority of parents and carers for their patience and consideration for the ongoing safety and wellbeing of all students by following the procedures and practices that have been put in place by the College. The system of drop-off and pick-up through the Western Gate provides a safe and efficient means of transport for those students using private vehicles. 

On the flip-side, it is extremely disappointing that a small number of parents and carers choose to ignore the restrictions on entry into the College through the Badgally Road entrance, by driving into either the staff car park, behind the Chapel or attempting to drop off at the bus bay or farm after 7.45am and before 3.45pm. This adds unnecessary congestion to the flow of traffic at peak times, which includes the many buses that need access to the site, and places students and staff at risk of injury due to a large number of vehicles on the site. In some cases, it appears that parents choosing to take this option think it is okay to put the safety and wellbeing of their child ahead and above the safety of all other students. 

This simply isn’t acceptable and, once again, I ask for the cooperation of families to follow the established procedures. 

Mr Paul Brooks

College Deputy Principal/Head of Senior School