Welcome back to the second term. I hope you had a restful Easter.

Through the week, I went for a walk at lunchtime to catch up with the girls and see what activities they were engaged in. I was astounded by the number of varied activities and the large number of girls who were in classrooms or specialist rooms busily participating and having fun. We had senior girls tutoring maths to a number of Year 7 girls in one room, in another past staff, grandparents and friends were helping at least 20 girls knit their squares for St Vincent de Paul blankets. Across the College the musical girls were busy rehearsing, guitar ensemble were strumming away, the debaters were practising in preparation for their first debates this Friday, chess club and K-Pop were meeting in the Library, meditation was happening in one of the rooms in A block and assistance to senior HSIE and SOR students plus language lifeboat were all on offer in the H block. It was very busy.

 In each activity there were several staff members supervising and activating the energy of the girls. These activities are not counted as part of their teaching load so each participate in these activities because they are passionate about the cause and they love to provide a broad experience for the girls.  These activities may not directly contribute to a Band 6 in the HSC, nor an ATAR over 90, however, they will broaden the girls' experience of learning, connect them to other girls at the College and will nurture their sense of belonging and self-confidence. These experiences are as vital as the programs in the lessons. I am very grateful that we have such generous and giving staff who model lifelong learning and show such dedication to your daughters. I encourage you to ask your daughter if she accessed any of these activities through the week and how she found them. If she isn’t involved, I would encourage her to have a go and see if there are some activities that she would find interesting. Perhaps she can take a friend and they both can try something different.

Next Tuesday, the College will host its AGM. The Members of the Company will come to the College to meet with myself and Directors of the Board to review the operations of 2020. Every second year we hold an assembly on this day which the Members attend. This year, the assembly will focus on ANZAC Day and a past student Brittany Lovett will speak to the girls about her experience in her multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan as a member of the Australian Defence Force. Brittany has spoken on a previous occasion and was exceptional. Dr Freelander will present an ANZAC Day certificate to the College and the Mayor George Brticevic will present a certificate to Abbey C who delivered the student address at the Campbelltown ANZAC Day ceremony last Sunday. It will be a wonderful assembly, once again showcasing the talents and qualities of the students at the College. I am sure the Members and our special guests will find it very informative and entertaining and I would like to acknowledge Mrs Musico Rullo for her work in preparing for the assembly.

I will leave you with a short reflection by Meister Eckhart on Gratitude.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal

If the only prayer you say in your life is
"thank you" that would suffice.

Meister Eckhart