The students return to the classroom this term as the world continues to look on as war rages in Gaza and Ukraine. Pope Leo has made several public comments about ceasing the barbarity of war and the impact on defenceless civilians. We pray that world leaders will act.

The next eight weeks will be the last ones full of learning for our Year 12 students. The positivity and shared sense of care is clearly visible in so many of these students as they go about preparing for a future that is still unclear for some and more defined for others.

Term 3 in a school’s life is always one where mixed emotion’s exist. The sadness at seeing the graduating class (leaders of the school) come to an end of their formal schooling and leaving the community, is mixed with the excitement of welcoming new school leaders for the 2025 school year.  Both our Year 11 group and our Year 12 group are wonderful students who have demonstrated a capacity to do very well.

We wish our Year 12 students all the very best for the trial HSC Exams that commence next week and we are confident that they will present their best selves in these exams. These exams are the major preparatory opportunity for the Year 12 students to experience HSC conditions and timings. So, it is important to engage in them fully.

Parent Teacher Student Led Interviews

It was so very good to meet and chat to the parents who attended these interviews. They are so important for the learning of your child, to access teachers and have a conversation about current learning and ways to improve learning outcomes. A goal that both parents and teachers want.

However, it was disappointing that only about 40% of Year 7 – 10 students booked interviews. Research tells us that parents who take an interest in their child’s learning, leads to improved learning outcomes for the student. We all know that school is different to when we attended. So doing the work with/for your child is not what is needed. However, a genuine interest in performance and support in improvement leads to improved learning, focus in the classroom and behavioural outcomes.

Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – August 8

Mary MacKillop was born in 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne. On 8 August 1909, she died, having suffered a disabling stroke in 1902. Inspired by a meeting with Fr. Julian Tenison-Woods, Mary MacKillop took her vows at the age of twenty-five, and the religious name, “Mary of the Cross”. In doing so, she founded the congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph. Soon after taking her religious vows, Mary MacKillop founded several schools. Within five years of taking her vows and founding the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Mary had established over thirty schools in South Australia. By that time, more than one hundred women had joined the Order.

Mary was very conscious of the plight of the poor and needy. She worked with families that lived in isolated areas of Australia. As a result, Mary MacKillop pioneered a new form of religious life in Australia, and commenced a “system” of “Josephite” schools that would provide education, especially for the children of the poor. In 1873, Pope Pius IX gave Papal approval for the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Even today, many Australians can say that they too have felt the impact of the enormous work started by St. Mary of the Cross (MacKillop), having been educated or cared for, by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She was noted for her trust in the providence of God and miracles of healing have been attributed to her. She was declared a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI on the 17th October 2010, with over 8000 Australians travelling to Rome for the occasion. In January 2013, St Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) was declared by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, to be the Second Patron Saint of Australia. This means that Australia now has two Patron Saints: Mary Help of Christians and St. Mary of the Cross (MacKillop).