Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to Term 3. A special welcome back to Mrs Ruth Patrick. Mrs Patrick has been in Nepal for the past two years working in a voluntary capacity as a teacher. We also welcome our new students who have joined our O’Connor Community. We look forward to working collaboratively with you on your learning journey.

Catholic Schools Week

This week we celebrated Catholic Schools Week in our Diocese. The theme for 2020 is Nurture, Grow, Celebrate.

We bring a sense of joy and thankfulness to our learning community. Spend time thinking about one or two things about life in our school community for which we are grateful. This week was a great opportunity to give thanks and reflect on our community. 

Year 12 

Term 3 is a very significant one for Year 12 as they consolidate their learning and begin their HSC exams. It is a time for finishing courses, completing final assessments and revising in preparation for the Trial exams (Week 5 and 6 of this term) and for their HSC examinations in Term 4. Many of our students will be completing major works for submission as part of their HSC courses including Design and Technology, Music, Textiles and Design, and Visual Arts. Some students will also complete their HSC Performance Examinations in Music and the oral component of HSC Languages. We wish all these students the very best and know that their focus on learning will result in them performing to their best. A link to the Trial Exam timetable is here

Real Talk

In this growing technological world, it’s hard to know what our young people are accessing on their devices. The team from Real Talk do talks and workshops all over Australia. With the support of the Armidale Catholic Schools Office, we are fortunate to have the Real Talk team come again this year and work with students, teachers and parents.

Who or What is Real Talk -

Real Talk is all about getting real on the topics of sex, relationships and personal identity. Based on christian values and using personal sharing from a team of dynamic presenters, Real Talk provides presentations, programs and up-to-date resources. We want all young people to know their true value, worth and dignity and to experience love for all it was created to be. (Source http://www.realtalkaustralia.com/)

The team will work with Year 7 and 9 students to cover areas such as current trends and statistics around young people and technology, the effects on individuals and society and how to safeguard your children and have the conversation as a parent with your child. 

There will be Parent Night on Monday 10th August at 6.30 pm via zoom. I highly recommend that parents and carers attend this workshop. The link will be shared with you prior to the nights.

Eli Simpson

I would like to announce that Eli Simpson has been successful in gaining a senior leadership role at Catherine McAuley Catholic College, Medowie in the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese. Eli has been appointed to Head of House and will take up her role in Term 4 this year. Catherine McAuley is a new school due to open in January 2021.

Eli has been instrumental in putting learning at the centre of all we do and promoting student agency and student voice. Her work as Leader of Pedagogy and Assistant Principal (Learning) has been outstanding. While we will miss her greatly, I am excited for this new chapter in Eli’s life and know she will be an amazing addition to Catherine McAuley. 

What new learning will you undertake this week?

Regina Menz