Principal

Dear Members of the Academy Community,

Welcome to the 2023 School Year!  May it be a happy and rewarding year for each and every member of our wonderful College community. 

2023 is a new beginning for all. It is certainly an exciting new beginning for our Year 7 students and we are delighted to formally welcome them into the College as Academy students.   

I offer a special welcome to all our Year 7 students and also to the new students across other year levels. I trust that they are already feeling at home and have enjoyed their first days at the Academy of Mary Immaculate. A warm welcome, too, to our new parents and families.

A school without students is a somewhat empty place and it was delightful to see our girls back at the College and to witness the joy with which they greeted each other and their obvious pleasure at being back at the Academy.

Year 7 students have spent a significant period of time over the past couple of days with their Year 12 Big Sisters engaged in a number of activities including a tour of the College and support in setting up their laptops.  Hopefully, this positive relationship between the oldest and youngest members of our community will continue throughout the year with the Year 12 students offering support and friendship to the Year 7 students during their first year at the Academy. 

We were delighted that so many families participated in the Year 7 beginning of year Mass and in the BBQ that followed. Hopefully parents are beginning to make some connections with one another- connections that can be enhanced as the year progresses. 

Next week the Academy community will gather together for our whole school College Mass - a very significant event in the College calendar. In addition to the Mass we will also welcome back and congratulate our 2022 VCE High Achievers and acknowledge our 2023 Senior Student Leadership team.  We are very proud of our 2023 Senior Student Leadership Team and we look forward to the leadership they will offer the College this year.

Our College theme this year is, most appropriately, “Many Voices, ONE Community”.    The College theme for 2023 is one which was announced with great enthusiasm by our new Senior Student Leadership Team and, in turn, received with great enthusiasm by the student body.

Students have expressed their desire to particularly celebrate the diversity of the College this year and to acknowledge the richness that this diversity brings to our strong and united community. We look forward to our Senior Student Leadership Team further unpacking this theme throughout the year.   We look forward to this theme being lived in word, action and spirit throughout 2023.

Communication from College

All parents should have received the following documentation from the College:

• Beginning of Year letter from the Principal
• College contact details
• VCE results

If you did not receive this important information, please contact Student Reception.  The College Calendar will be distributed to all students via Mentor Group rolls.

Forthcoming Events

Please see details of upcoming events on the Important Dates page.

Our 2022 high achieving students will be acknowledged at our opening College Mass and Assembly on Monday 6th February.

We also congratulate Krissy Francis who obtained a perfect study score of 50 for Health and Human Development.

Hot Weather

The month of February is always very hot weather wise. The College is well able to cater for students during the hot weather as every classroom in the College is air-conditioned. During periods when it is extremely hot an announcement will be made informing students that they are not required to wear (or bring) their blazer to school. 

Child Safe School

At the Academy of Mary Immaculate, we are committed to being a nurturing, child-safe school where our students are respected, their voices are heard and where they are safe and feel safe.  Our commitment and responsibility to child safety is driven by Jesus Christ’s message of hope, love and care for all.

The important area of Child Safety is highlighted to staff at the beginning of the year and throughout the year.   We have several strategies currently in place in our school designed to keep students safe and to affect positive student learning, for example:

• Regular review of Child Safety Code of Conduct
• Regular review of Child Safety Policy
• Regular review of Child Safety Reporting Obligations 
• Annual presentation to students on Child Safety Procedures 

As a school we will continue to reflect, review and approve our Child Safety strategies. Wellbeing and Child Safety is everyone’s responsibility.  As always, we welcome your comments and would be happy to discuss any ideas or concerns you may have regarding the matter of student safety.

May the academic year begin well for you and may God favour us all with many blessings. 

Every blessing,

Sr Mary Moloney rsm 

Principal

Loving God, we come to you at this new beginning of the school year.

We have been many places during the summer and our journey has brought us back to this place and to this time together.

We know that this is not by accident, but by your intimate design for each of us.

As we turn towards you at the beginning of this year as a school community, we begin by saying thank you--- thank you for this call to service in this community.

Thank you for where we are on our journey and for the journey ahead.

Thank you for where we are on the path of our life.

Be with us as we begin the year.

Steady our hearts and our minds to be open to what is being constantly revealed through your loving presence.

Give us joy-filled hearts-- a warm and friendly attitude that is open to the movement of your spirit and to others.

We ask these things through Christ our Lord.

Amen