As this edition of the Inside Out comes your way we find more and more of the States across Australia are having to impose lockdowns and stay at home orders to protect their citizens from contracting this deadly variant of COVID-19. In addition to this, we have all schools in New South Wales now classified at level 4, which means all students are to be learning remotely unless their parents are essential workers.

One of the continuing difficulties for each school, in this situation, is keeping their students connected and engaged whilst they are working from their home and relating to others through their screen. We had a great assembly this week, where all the homerooms chose an interesting background and competed with each other to be the most interesting and entertaining, as nominated first from their year group and then across the College. We had girls placing themselves in bathrooms, with shower caps on to add to the detail, girls in early morning Bunnings backdrop, girls coming from the sunny shores of a pacific island, girls with the same colour T shirt on and so many more funny images. They had so much fun creating their theme and then competing against each other to be the winner. The winning homeroom was 9E, Mrs Samyia's with the "Bathroom Beauties", but really they were all winners!

With our new timetable implemented this week, we have reintroduced some activities options. Students could opt for 30 minutes doing Mindfulness, Cheer, Sport, Pet Catch Up, Debating, Creative Group, Photography, Dance , Bookclub and Anime, to name a few. In addition to this, during Pastoral period on Tuesday, the girls have made a piece of art, a rainbow, based on a delightful book they read in class called The World Made a Rainbow. All of these activities and diversions are in place to assist girls to connect to their community, even if they are spread out across over 700 homes in the Macarthur area.

Shortly, the Year 12 girls will finish their Trials and staff will begin marking their assessments. It was a new step for all in our community to complete assessments online and I must acknowledge the work of the Year 12 teachers, their Coordinators, Eileen Kelly and her team and Josh Combes and the IT team for the extraordinary support, which enable it to go ahead smoothly for all. The girls had their exam booklets driven to their homes by support staff, so that they could be sure to have all the resources they needed at home in time for their exams. It was a big job, but very worthwhile, for the peace of mind it brought the girls.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the work you are doing as parents and caregivers of our girls in this difficult time. Thank you for the support you are giving your daughter and then for keeping us informed of how she is managing the work and the isolation. Thank you for the very generous and kind feedback you are giving our staff, as they work to provide the very best to the girls. Thank you for graciously seeking out clarification and confusion when it arises. I have noticed increasingly in the broader community, people are jaded and weary, which often presents as angry and aggressive, but none of that is present in our community. We are very fortunate to have a community that is caring, forgiving and collaborative and that recognises that we will get through this together, assisting and supporting each other along the way. We are all doing our best.

I will leave you with a brief reflection on community.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal

My God I could not see.
I sought my soul,
My soul eluded me.
I sought my brother/sister,
And I found all three.