Principal's Address
ACKNOWLEDGING OUR FOUNDERS
Parents/carers are warmly invited to attend the Founder’s Day Mass next Wednesday, 7 June and are asked to be seated in the hall by 12.15pm. We will join with representatives of the Presentation Sisters and the Christian Brothers and the Catholic Schools Office to give thanks for the spirit of Nano Nagle and Blessed Edmund Rice and the work of our Founding Orders in establishing Catholic education in Wagga.
Our thoughts and prayers are also with the Presentation Sisters with the recent passing of Sister Campion McCarthy aged 101.
A celebration of Sister Campion's life was held at St Michael's Cathedral.
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK
This week we celebrate National Reconciliation Week, which acknowledges and builds on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians. The dates that bookend the week are significant milestones in the reconciliation journey:
26 May —Last Friday marked the anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census.
2 June, commemorates the High Court of Australia’s landmark Mabo decision in 1992, which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land and paved the way for Native Title.
All Australians are invited to participate in our nation’s reconciliation journey. Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of us all as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples.
In the spirit of Reconciliation, we pray:
In the midst of conflict and division,
We know it is you
Who turns our minds to thoughts of peace.
Your spirit changes hearts:
Enemies begin to speak to one another,
Those who were estranged join hands in friendship,
And nations seek the way of peace together.
Let your spirit be at work in us.
Give us understanding
and put an end to strife,
Fill us with your mercy
and overcome our denial.
Grant us wisdom and teach us to learn
from the people of the land.
Call us to justice.
(Adapted from the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer for the Mass of Reconciliation 11)
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Prayer Card, 2006. Permission for use granted by ACSJC.
CELEBRATING NAIDOC
Our College will also celebrate NAIDOC on Thursday, 22 June with an Assembly at 12.30pm in the Hall. Parents/carers are warmly invited to join the College community and invited guests at the Assembly. Please confirm your attendance with the Office if you are able to come along.
STAFF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY - MONDAY 17 JULY - PUPIL FREE DAY
There are no further Professional Learning Days scheduled for Term 2 and parents/carers are reminded that Friday 9 June is a normal school day this year, ahead of the Long Weekend.
Term 3 will begin with a Professional Learning Day for all staff and students will return for Term 3 on Tuesday 18 July. We have an ongoing commitment to the provision of learning opportunities that are consistently excellent for all our students - every lesson, every day. The Professional Learning Day on Monday 17 July will be used to further strengthen learning across the curriculum, focusing on high expectations and ensuring that student feedback on their learning is utilised to improve their results and achievements.
YEAR 7 2018– ROUND ONE ACCEPTANCES DUE NOW
Offers have been emailed to parents and signed acceptances are due to Mrs Michelle Clarke at the Office by Monday 5 June. With the process almost concluded, any family who is yet to book an Enrolment Interview for 2018 is asked to contact Mrs Clarke urgently at the College.
We are reaching the end of a number of sporting competitions and I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the players who have represented the College across a range of representative sports this term and their coaches. I congratulate all our teams on another stellar season with so many achieving places in grand finals and thank all players for the way that they represented the College, with exemplary sportsmanship and care for each other on the field and court.
Best wishes,
Mrs Val Thomas
Principal