From the Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Friends of St Norbert College,
It seems so long ago that the term started but, in reality, it was a little over one week ago. Perhaps in a school setting time flies by when you’re having fun and are busy and engaged. And we definitely have been here at St Norbert College.
Our Staff Professional Development Day last Monday (pictured above) was highlighted by sessions which continue to develop in our staff, as part of our College Strategic Plan 2019 – 2021, an understanding of student learning needs and the teaching strategies that best address these needs. The focus for the morning session was a growing awareness of the uniqueness of education, for our students with English as an additional language or dialect. During this terrific presentation by our experienced staff, we all witnessed video messages from some of our EAL/D students and our thanks go to these students for sharing their thoughts and experiences of Australian school life for them.
Please view our College Strategic Plan 2019–2021 on our website: www.norbert.wa.edu.au/about-snc/strategic-plan
We were delighted to welcome Associate Professor Clive Walley of the Whadjuk people, who is also the current Director of Indigenous Education and a member of the Aboriginal Health Team at Notre Dame University in Fremantle. Professor Walley shared his own story and great insights into the potential pathways that a quality education, like that offered at St Norbert College, can have for all of our students including those of Aboriginal background.
The last session was a reinforcement of the day’s message that, as staff in Catholic schools, it is incumbent that we look beyond the superficial, always respectful of backgrounds, uniqueness, needs and talents and endeavour to utilise these as strengths in building an optimal learning environment for all of our students.
I’m sure all would agree that our students are extremely talented in so many ways and Catholic Arts, which includes the Catholic Performing Arts Festival and the Angelico Arts Exhibition, are wonderful displays of these talents. Such special events are a major feature of this term, involving more than 21,000 students in Catholic schools in Western Australia. For the first time in the Festival’s 30-year history, we welcome a Sacred Choral ensemble from the Kururrungku Catholic Education Centre at Billiluna Station in the Kimberley, nearly 3,000 kilometres from Perth.
The Festival commenced with the Opening Mass at Saint Mary’s Cathedral and I would like to acknowledge Grace Edmonds in Year 7 (pictured above) who delivered the First Reading with great poise, eloquence and faith-filled spirit. On Sunday was the Orchestral Mass, also at Saint Mary’s Cathedral, where a number of our senior Choral and music students along with Mr Beins, joined the Cathedral Choir to share in a warm, spiritual and invigorating celebration of the Eucharist. I was privileged to witness our student contributions on both occasions and was enormously proud of their involvement.
I would like to acknowledge Mr David Yeoh who joined our community as our new College Psychologist. Mr Yeoh previously worked at the Autism Association of Western Australia and we are very fortunate that he has joined us at Saint Norbert College. We also welcome Miss Celeste Haji-Ali as part of the Cadet Teacher program through a joint partnership between Catholic Education WA and the Federal Government. We look forward with enthusiasm to the contributions and membership of both Mr Yeoh and Miss Haji-Ali in our community.
A very special event coming soon is our annual NAIDOC assembly, a highlight of this school term for us, taking place at the College on Wednesday 14 August. We are also very excited to be in a position this year to acknowledge the contribution of our Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal students in Basketball with a showcase of talent on display at lunchtime in an Indigenous uniform designed by Lachauntae Eades (Year 9). The new uniform will be unveiled in full at the NAIDOC assembly, sporting the logo (pictured above) which is also based on Lachauntae's drawings. I warmly invite all Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal families who have the time to join us, for our special NAIDOC assembly at 9am and then the All-Stars Basketball game at 1pm, both in the Fr Peter O’Reilly Centre.
In conclusion, in all of our busy-ness and engagement, we are determined to demonstrate that here within our St Norbert College community, we are all of one mind and one heart.
“We stand together united as one people;
proud of our ability to work together;
grateful for our gifts;
nourished by our diversity and our harmony...”
God bless.
Mr S Harvey (Principal)
New Flags – Special thanks
I would like to make special mention of Ms Wilkinson (mother of Kyle Wilkinson-Dinnie in Year 8) who, through her work with Senator, the Honourable Linda Reynolds, has gifted the College new Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. We very much appreciate this kind gesture.