From the Acting College Principal 

Champagnat Week

This year marks 203 years since the founding of the Marist Brothers by St Marcellin Champagnat in France. In addition, 2020 is a significant year as it represents the bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia, beginning with a single school founded by Father John Therry in Parramatta in 1820. It is also 148 years since the establishment of the first Marist school, opened at St Patrick’s in Sydney in 1872. Today, over fifty schools in Australia give their name or charism to a school in the Marist tradition, including St Gregory’s College.

This week at the College we celebrated Champagnat Week culminating in the Feast of St Marcellin Champagnat on Saturday 6 June. Although we were unable to celebrate the occasion in the same way as we have in previous years, Champagnat Week still took its rightful place of prominence in the life of the College. Although we were unable to celebrate Mass and participate in some of the regular activities, the core message and principles associated with our foundation and continuance as a Catholic school in the Marist tradition still held firm. 

Each day a different characteristic of Marist education provided a focus, beginning with Love of Work. On Monday, staff members and students were recognised by their colleagues and teachers respectively for demonstrating a passion and commitment to their career and work as a student. The focus on Tuesday was the Way of Mary, highlighting the unwavering belief, faith and devotion by Marcellin towards Mary, Our Good Mother. 

During the liturgy on Wednesday, the focus was on the characteristic of Presence. The story of Jean-Baptiste Berne is an excellent example of being there and present to others. The story involves a time when St Marcellin Champagnat was called to hear the confession of a gravely ill woman, destitute and living in extremely difficult circumstances. The woman had a 9-year-old son and he was adopted by the Brothers after his mother passed. The boy had known little love and was very ill-disciplined, displayed poor behaviour and ran away many times. Each time, Marcellin and the Brothers searched for and found him. Despite some wanting to give up on the boy, Marcellin had the courage, perseverance and the trust in God and in Mary to always reach out and the be present to the boy. Eventually, he accepted the help, love and kindness that was being offered to him. Although John Berne died at an early age, he was forever grateful for the display of presence that had been so clearly demonstrated by St Marcellin Champagnat and the Marist Brothers. 

The characteristic of Family Spirit was recognised and celebrated on Thursday through Homeroom prayer and the traditional Battle of the Codes. To end the school week, prayer cards and chocolates were delivered to the staff and students as we reflected upon the gift of Simplicity.

Sincere thanks to Mrs Cathie Clarke and Ms Ashley Mazzo for their significant and valuable leadership and for their tireless efforts in the organisation as well as the staff and students who contributed to a wonderful week of celebrations. 

I wish to acknowledge and thank the Marist Brothers, in particular the community at St Gregory’s College for their remarkable and selfless wholehearted commitment and contribution to the College over the last 94 years.

In continuing the work of these great men, we strive in our daily work, in partnership with parents and carers, to realise the vision of St Marcellin Champagnat to educate young people to have a strong mind and a gentle, caring heart. 

I take this opportunity to wish all members of the St Gregory’s College community Happy Champagnat Week and, in doing so, I ask for God’s blessings on the continuing work of the Brothers, staff, students and families of the College in the years ahead. 

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week ran from 27 May – 3 June. The theme this year was In This Together. Reconciliation means ‘coming together’. In Australia, it particularly means bringing together all non-indigenous Australians with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It means understanding and embracing differences. Reconciliation means knowing the history of this country and acknowledging both the bad and good things that have occurred and righting the wrongs of the past.

As a College community, we used the pastoral care lesson on Friday 29 May to focus on increasing student knowledge and understanding about Reconciliation through viewing some short clips and engaging students in various activities and discussions.

I thank Ms Julie Robinson for her work in organising the activities during National Reconciliation Week and for her ongoing support of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled at the College. 

Cease of Operations Protocols

In the event of a confirmed case of COVID-19 involving a staff member or student from the College, parents and carers will receive an SMS notifying them that an email has been sent to them asking that the email be immediately accessed and read. This email will provide further details and advice about the possible need for the cessation of operations and the required action from parents. We have been advised by the NSW Ministry of Health that they will take responsibility for contact tracing and also for carrying out any deep cleaning that may be required in some or all of the property. In the event of this occurring, students will revert to online learning for a temporary period, possibly one or two days, until we are permitted to allow staff and students back onto the site.

We will be advised by NSW Health of any positive test result involving a student or staff member and then a teleconference will be held to plan the response. The College has already received feedback from NSW Health about our Cease of Operations plan, so we are confident this situation could be managed in a calm and timely manner. Parents and carers are asked to ensure that, should your son or daughter receive a positive test result for COVID-19, please keep this confidential and do not tell anyone else, including sending any text messages or making any social media posts as this could cause unnecessary panic and/or unpredictable responses from other members of the College community. 

Schools are bound by obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) to not disclose the identity of a person with COVID-19 except to authorised people. This includes not sharing information that might allow a person’s identity to be inferred, even if they are not named. Authorised persons means the owner of the information themselves and authorised Ministry of Health personnel.

Mr MacMaster

By way of update, I can inform parents that Mr MacMaster’s surgery was successful and that his rehabilitation is progressing well. We continue to keep him in our prayers during his convalescence and we wish him a successful and complete recuperation from the knee surgery. 

Mr Paul Brooks

Acting College Principal