I hope you had a wonderful break and that the start of the year has been relatively smooth. Congratulations to the HSC class of 2021 as they achieved outstanding results in their HSC exams. Through their results, the College was again in the top 200 schools across the state and the best performing Catholic school in the Macarthur area. All girls achieved exceptional results across the bands with many achieving personal bests that exceeded their expectations. All girls who were seeking entry into university were given early offers before they sat their exams. We are very thrilled for them and proud of their achievements. A photo of all of the high achievers present at the assembly is included in this edition.

We have a few new staff who have joined us this year. I would like to welcome:

Mrs Jackie Benney          Learning Enhancement Coordinator

Ms Tabitha Brown           RE teacher

Ms Emily Negrin              Maths teacher

Mr Ben Robson               eLearning and Innovation Coordinator

Ms Maree Torpy              Teacher’s Aide

Mr Matthew White          HSIE Coordinator

Ms Philomena Camilleri   Teacher's Aide

Ms Ashleigh Young         PDHPE /RE teacher (who will be starting in a few weeks)

Matthew Mahasay           IT Technician

 We are thrilled to have these staff joining us this year. They will be a wonderful addition to our community.

After we had finished for the year last year, I sadly accepted the resignation of Mrs Boulatsakos. Maria has been a fantastic Year Coordinator and teacher. It was sad to see her go. We wish her well for the future. Mrs Nina Tacca-Baudana will be taking leave for the year. She has decided to focus on her health, and we look forward to her return in 2023. The photos of our new staff are in this edition of the Inside Out.

We also thank Mr Josh Combes who will be taking on the role of Acting Assistant Principal Students for this term and Mrs Vanessa Singles who is the Acting CAPA Coordinator, Mrs Eileen Norris and Mrs Alison Bleyerveen who will be covering for Ms Stephanie Dunn and Mr Gary Spies and Mr Bayley Spencer who are covering for Mrs Pola Nicolaou this term.

Sadly, Mrs Nicolaou’s son was gravely ill through last year and then finally lost his battle against stomach cancer this year. He was only in his twenties and such a beautiful, strong, intelligent young man. His loss is deeply felt by his whole family and our community. Please keep Mrs Nicolaou and the family in your prayers. I am sure when she returns later this term, you will extend to her the care and comfort that is always present in our community.

We welcome our new Year 7 girls and girls in many other years as well. They have had a great transition in to high school. They are familiar with their locks; they can read their timetable and we haven’t lost anyone on the site through the day. There seems to be lots of smiles and we are very pleased with their progress. If you have any concerns with your daughter, please contact her pastoral advisor or her Year Coordinator. There is a lot to learn in the first weeks, so I suggest that you reassure her and encourage her to be active in finding the solutions at the College if she can.

It is wonderful that we were able to host our swimming carnival on Thursday. The girls were very animated and managed to support the people in their teams with much enthusiasm. I like to acknowledge the work of Mr Ashcroft and the PDHPE staff in setting up and running the day. All girls go to the event, and it was great to see such excitement and team spirit.

Well, we are managing COVID as best we can. Thank you for registering your results each Monday and Wednesday. The current regulations are in place for the first four weeks of the term so we are hoping there will be some changes coming up. The girls have been wonderful in wearing their masks and keeping their social distance. Let’s hope and pray that this will ease in the coming weeks and our experience of normal will slowly begin to return.

I will leave you with a reflection provided by Joan Chittister about prayer:

“When we go to pray, we go, not to be given something but to be quiet, to develop a heartbeat of acceptance, to become the calm that is calming. Humility makes listeners of us. And in listening to everything that happens to us, we find God’s word for us.”

Sr Joan Chittister:  The Breadth of the Soul

I encourage you to find some time to pray in the coming week.

Sue Lennox - Principal