Last night, staff attended the Call to Serve Mass at the Cathedral, a liturgy led by the Bishop wherein the staff reaffirmed their commitment to the education and development (spiritual, emotional and academic) of your child(ren).  Following the celebration there was an opportunity to catch up with colleagues from around the Diocese.  I was able to introduce our staff to the Head of Schools, Jaqueline Wilkinson, as the best staff in the Diocese. I had a similar discussion with the Bishop and another Principal.  At various times throughout the break, I’ve been asked what I do for a living and my answer is always the same... I am Co-Principal / Assistant Principal at the best school In Newcastle.  We truly have the best staff, the best students and a wonderful community.  I feel privileged to work here and it is an absolute joy to come to work each day.  I LOVE my job!

This year we are continuing to work on ensuring that our communication is the best it can be and we really appreciate any feedback on how we can improve.  We will continue to issue the Week at a Glance and Imagination Station weekly. Look for that on Friday afternoons.  For those who had problems with that this week, the only advice Compass could offer was to ensure users had the most updated version of the app.  Our school newsletter will be issued fortnightly in odd weeks this year, and the Term planner will accompany the newsletter.  Please be aware that the Term planner may alter in response to external forces or providers.  Events on the term planner each fortnight are guaranteed and we will do all in our power to avoid any changes.  We will endeavour to give one month’s notice for events and, in response to positive feedback, will continue to send out an SMS push with event notifications.  If you have any concerns or would like to find out how your child is going please email your child’s teacher to schedule a meeting either face to face or by phone call.  Dropping unscheduled into the classroom before or after school is problematic, as teachers are busy prepping and organising for the day in the morning and may have commitments after school.

We have an exciting year ahead with various gala days (look for those in Term 3 – we have no control over the timing of these events) and also our school musical at the end of Term 3.  There will be more information about the school musical in my next newsletter as we will have auditions later this term.  In the weekly communication push this Friday, I will include a pdf of this year’s key dates.

God Bless

Kim Hogan

Co-Principa / Assistant Principal