Principal's Report

Dear O’Connor Community,

Thank you for the wonderful year I have had at O’Connor. It has been an honour to join this community and get to know our staff, students and parents. My fondest memories are of the informal conversations I have with students and staff as I walk around the College. I am in awe of our students who are always willing to ‘have-a-go’ in the classroom, on the sporting field, on the Farm and in the many enrichment events on offer. You only have to look at our socials to know of all the opportunities our students have had this year. 

Our staff are dedicated educators with an unwavering positive regard for our students. This is especially evident in the number of staff who are taking time away from their families to go on Camps and Spirituality retreats next week. Our staff families are generous and understanding and we thank them for helping us provide these wonderful opportunities for our students. To our Year 11 and 9 students, we hope you have a great time and remember to enjoy the experiences organised by your teachers.

Mr Damian Roff - Catholic Life, Mission and Religious Education Leader

Last week Mr Chris Smythe - Director of the Catholic Schools Office, Armidale gave me the wonderful news on Mr Damian Roff’s appointment as the Catholic Life, Mission and Religious Education Leader for our Diocese. This is an exciting opportunity for both Mr Damian Roff and for all our schools and our children. Our O’Connor community will miss Mr Roff as he moves into this senior leadership role. Mr Roff displays the attributes of respect, service, faith and love which are the foundations of what it means to be a part of the O’Connor community. We all - staff, students and parents have big shoes to fill in order to keep the legacy of Mr Damian Roff alive and well at O’Connor in 2023 and beyond. 

May God bless Mr Damian Roff as he embarks on a new journey of faith and leadership.

Announcement - Head of Catholic Life, Mission and Religious Education.pdf 

(please click on the link to read)

Creative and Performing Arts Nights

It has been a real pleasure to welcome back our Soiree and Drama Nights to the College. Our student performances were exceptional and I look forward to having more of these opportunities in our new building. The preparation and support our teachers provide our students is awesome. Ms Sampson and Ms Suann compliment each other in their experience and expertise in Music. This was evident in each and every performance. Ms Plane has begun to develop our Drama program. Her passion and enthusiasm is infectious which was so evident with our Year 10 Drama performance. Congratulations to all of our talented students and staff on the amazing nights.

Sporting opportunities

Over the last few weeks we have had some important games of Cricket, Futsal and Basketball. Our sporting abilities are known across the region and I am always impressed when I hear of our successes both as a team and in the results. 

Our cricket teams travelled to Inverell, Coonabarabran and Armidale in the last two weeks. We had some wins, some near misses and a lot of fun as a team. Mr Roff, Mr Harris, Mr May, Mr and Mrs Osbourne travelled with our teams and provided much needed support and entertainment for our students. We are grateful to our staff who have enjoyed the great games of cricket as well as the opportunity to share their passion for sport with our students. Highlights were the pink caps (thanks to Ms Clydsdale), Charlie Foster scoring over 100 and the Berg Shield Cricket team who went to Coonabarabran.

This week our girls Futsal team was in the Grand Final at PLC. It was great to see the smiling faces as they won the final 18-1 against PLC. Mr Healy was so impressed with their sportsmanship. Congratulations girls on your win and teamwork. 

Our Basketball teams are once again competing in the summer competition. It is always great to see the Kings vs Prophets or Wise Men v Corinthians. Mr Roff’s naming convention for our teams is great and definitely a part of the winning combination.

2023 update

Learning

In 2023 some of our Year 10 students will begin their Preliminary course in Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. These courses provide a dual qualification which will enable our students to gain industry experience in Construction, Information and Digital Technologies, Primary Industries and Business Services. These students will be given the opportunity to go out on Work Placement and may also consider a School Based Apprenticeship/Traineeship (SBAT). These VET subjects are run in place of the traditional elective subjects so that our students do not miss classes in their core subjects. If you would like further information on these subjects please do not hesitate to contact the College.

Technology

Next year we will begin the roll out of school devices for our Year 7 & 10 students. All students in these years will be given a Chromebook device which will ensure they have access to our network. The Year 10 device has been chosen to ensure our students have access to a device which is appropriate for Senior subjects. This program will be rolled out over the next three years and is part of the technology focus of catholic schools in the Armidale Diocese. 

Information and details of this program will be sent to Year 10 parents via Compass shortly.

Uniform options

Thank you to our Uniform Committee and the School Advisory Council for all your leadership on our uniform options. Our survey results were overwhelming in the need to have a warm jacket as an option (89% - blue) therefore we will introduce the jacket as an option for our Winter uniform in 2023.

Our uniform committee also asked about the senior girls uniform for Years 10 to 12. This was also well supported with 75% agreeable responses and supported by our School Advisory Council. As a College we understand that this would be an option that you may wish to take as your child grows out of the Junior dress.

Leadership Team 2023:

Mrs Clare Healy - Principal

Mr Stephen Chapman - Assistant Principal - Curriculum

Mrs Mellissa Bell - Assistant Principal - Wellbeing (acting)

Mr Andrew May - Religious Education Coordinator (acting)

Ms Lauren Donnelly - Leader of Pedagogy (acting)

Mr Michael Wooster - Literacy Coach

Mrs Christine Gerard - Office Manager 

To all our families, students and staff may God's peace and love be with you at Christmas. We hope that you enjoy your holidays - stay safe and well.  

God Bless,

Clare Healy

Principal