Last Sunday was the first Sunday of the Advent season; this is the beginning of our Liturgical year and a time of renewed commitment to our faith. During the four weeks of Advent, we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth through prayer and reflection. Pope Francis reflected recently on how the Advent Season reminds us that Jesus constantly enters our lives. He said with certainty, that Jesus will return at the end of time, which urges us to look to the future with confidence and hope. We contemplate the First Coming of Jesus as Saviour and anticipate his promised Second Coming. Amid the busyness of Christmas preparations in this joyful time, we look for practical ways to observe the holiness of the season in our everyday lives. In this first week of Advent, we pray for Hope, of promise and of our responsibility to assist those without the basic necessities of life that we can so often take for granted.
Our Social Justice group Chance for Change has successfully led our St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hamper Drive, we are close to our 100 hampers and I would ask that we make a final push to help the many needy members of our community. Jane Ryan from St Vincent de Paul attended our Advent Liturgy and shared with us the work of this wonderful group. She deepened our awareness of the plight of those in our community and the increase in the number of homeless people in our local area.
Creative and Performing Arts is alive and strong here at the College with two outstanding events over the last week. Our Talent Quest was a highly professional, highly energetic event that allowed our students to demonstrate not only their passion but their incredible talent. I thank our College Leaders; Sam, Jaymelee, Gabby and Joseph for hosting the event. Significant work happened behind the scenes with the VET Entertainment team, led by Ms Lyons, who were responsible for the lighting and sound. I thank Mr Berner, Ms Andrews, Mr Heffernan, and Mr Nguyen for their organisation and to the wonderful staff performers; Ms Andrews, Mr Heffernen, Mr Hornby, Ms Lyons, Mr Malkoun, Mrs Padden, Mr Quigley and Mr Zhang.
Wednesday night held our 2019 Creative Arts Show, supported by our wonderful student musicians from Years 9 - 12. I was very impressed by the music and the quality and creativeness of the artworks across all years. I thank the many parents, staff and families who attended and I especially thank Ms Andrews, Mr Heffernan, Mrs Donnelly, Ms Mojsiejuk, Ms Robinson and Ms Yee for their work and their ongoing passion for and contribution to Creative and Performing Arts in our College.
I would like to thank all of the parents who attended our final P&F Meeting and celebration for the year. After a short meeting we gathered as a community to celebrate the strong partnership, friendships and the great support the P&F have been to the College this year. The P&F play a vital role in the College and their feedback is critical in assisting us in future planning and feedback. I thank our P & F team and our President Chrishani Cogger for another great year.
Peer Support plays a very important role within our College, for both our Year 7 students in assisting them in the transition to high school, it also provides opportunities for our Year 10 students to develop their leadership skills and make a very important contribution to our Marist Family. I thank Mr Flew for his leadership of this program.
Last Monday our Staff professional learning centred around sharing teaching and learning successes, and work on College and Faculty Team Goals for 2019. I was very gratified and pleased with the outstanding work presented. The sharing of great pedagogy and learning strategies and the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback, made for a very successful afternoon. I am very proud of the student centred work that our staff have been doing in working towards our goals and I thank our Instructional Leader / Learning Coach Ms Maish for her excellent leadership in this area.
Yours in Jesus, Mary and St Marcellin
Mrs Angela Hay
Principal
