This is the last newsletter for the year. As Fr Michael would often say at our College masses, “Where did the time go?” Today we held the final mass and award ceremony for the girls in Years 7 to 11. My thanks to Fr Felecki for celebrating the eucharist for us. Once again, it is a delight to join with the girls as their hard work and effort across the year is acknowledged and celebrated. It is unfortunate you couldn’t join us, but I hope you were able to access the streaming service that was available to you.

Two documents will be sent to you today. One is the overview of the results of the survey the College conducted in term 2 called "Tell Them From Me". We have identified three projects that we will work on over 2022. An outline of the first project will be sent to you today and then an outline of the following two will be sent over the first weeks of next year. In addition to this, THIS LINK  outlines the work we have been doing at the College over the year and the changes and improvements that will be seen in classes and experiences for the girls from next year. Our aim is to enable our girls to flourish in 2022. 2022 will be a fantastic year for all the girls at St Patrick's College.

As we finish up today, we wish our best to the staff who are leaving the College at the end of the year including Mrs Christodoulides, Mr Gargoura and Mr Godbee. Mrs Christodoulides has been a wonderful counsellor for the past 13 years. She has cared for and supported hundreds of girls in that time. We wish her the best as she begins a new venture in her life. Also farewell to Mr Gargoura who has worked in IT since 2017. It has been his dedicated service which has created our stable network and built confidence in our capabilities. Finally, Mr Godbee has been at the College for the past two years. During these COVID years he has been wonderful in assisting with meeting the demands and difficulties of supply during remote learning. We wish these wonderful staff all the very best as they move to new communities.

I wish you a happy and holy Christmas and that you have some time to relax and unwind with family and friends. I encourage you to access some of the beautiful Christmas services that will be held across all churches this season.  Let’s hope we all keep safe and well and that we return in the new year ready for the great year that is planned for us.

I will leave you with a short Christmas prayer of St Augustine of Hippo:

Let the just rejoice, for their justifier is born. Let the sick and infirm rejoice, for their saviour is born. Let the captives rejoice, for their Redeemer is born. Let slaves rejoice, for their Master is born. Let free men rejoice, for their Liberator is born. Let All Christians rejoice, for Jesus Christ is born.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal