PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

We are now half way through term 1. It has been a half term full of activity for staff and students with the annual Swimming Carnival, Beginning of Year Mass, Year 7 Basket Tea, Year 12 Retreat and Year 7 Camp. Students have been participating well both in and out of the classroom. It is great to see them taking full advantage of these opportunities. I also appreciate the work of the staff, as they organise and support these activities.

School Advisory Council

The School Advisory Council (SAC) provides informed advice and community voice to the Principal and supports the Principal in their leadership responsibility for the school. The SAC supports the overall governance of DOBCEL and gives consideration to and advice on important school matters to support the Principal and the strategic interest of the school.

The current membership of the School Advisory Council is Hollie Conlan (Chair), David Adlderuccio, Scott Anderson, Tamara Grey, Jacky Storer, Alastair Mitton, Michelle Haeusler (Principal), Fr James Kerr (Parish Priest) and Tim O’Farrell (Education Consultant, Catholic Education Ballarat). Two of the current members completed their tenure at our meeting this week. I thank Jacky and Tamara for their many years of service to the school. Their support, encouragement and questions have provided for conversations towards improvement and growth. I also thank Jacky for her membership of the school Finance Committee.

With Jacky and Tamara leaving the SAC, this provides an opportunity for two new parents or guardians to join the committee. I would appreciate those parents that have experience in finance to consider joining and also being the SAC representative on the school Finance Committee. The SAC meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday each month and do not go beyond 90 minutes in duration. The Finance Meeting is held in the week prior to the SAC meeting, with the date and time open to negotiation with the parent representative.

If you are interested, please consider speaking with one of the remaining SAC members. If you would like to be considered for one of the positions, please email me at mhaeusler@mackillopsh.vic.edu.au.

School Fees

Parents and guardians will have received their 2023 School Fee accounts in the mail this week.  I encourage new families that are wanting to set up payment plans to speak with Kerryn Keam, Assistant Business Manager. The fees have risen 4.5% on 2022. This was an unavoidable increase as the school has had minimal to zero fee increases over the past three years and given that the average Catholic school raised fees by 5%, we remain one of the lowest fee paying schools.

If you have concerns in regard to your school fee account, please contact myself or Kerryn Keam at the school on 03 5032 9771.

Strategic Plan priorities

The Strategic Plan 2022 - 2026 outlines two key priorities.  These priorities are:

1. The staged relocation of St Mary MacKillop College

2. Increase the capacity of staff to meet the current and future learning needs of all students.

Nathan Lane, Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning, provides more detailed information in regard to priority two, on a regular basis, in his section of the school newsletter.

In regard to priority one and the staged relocation of St Mary MacKillop College. Since purchasing the property at 183 - 187 Gray St we have been working with our Architect and Town Planner to engage relevant engineers. The site has been surveyed and soon traffic engineers will assess the road access to the block and provide feedback on how vehicles should move on the site e.g school buses and parents drop off/pick up. A civil engineer has also been engaged to work through a drainage and stormwater strategy. We are slowly moving forward, which is very exciting.

I look forward to sharing more news about our new site over the remainder of the year.