Issue 18, 3 November 2023

Last Friday the Year 12’s celebrated their final day of formal schooling. It is always a day mixed with an array of emotions. The Year 12’s held an assembly and expressed their gratitude to the staff who have supported them with their learning and development throughout their time at our school. It was very fitting, given that their final day of school coincided with 'World Teacher’s Day'. They reminisced about their school journey as they looked back at images and videos from years gone by. It was a nice way to 'round off' their last day. After the assembly, the Year 12’s and staff gathered for a shared lunch in the staff courtyard. Stories were told and photos were taken. Memories were made. I credit the Year 12 students for ensuring that grace and gratitude flavoured their final day of school. May our prayers be with them as they continue to study hard in preparation for exams and put the final touches on their learning before they graduate.  

In the coming weeks, teachers will begin the process of class placements for next year. Teaching staff will spend a considerable amount of time placing students into classes, taking into consideration a range of factors. These factors include: 

• Progress of learning  
• Student’s individual needs (social/emotional, learning, physical, behavioural)  
• Relationships 
• A balance of gender   

Sometimes other factors may also need to be considered. Requests by families to have a specific teacher can have some implications for class placements. Firstly, staffing may not be determined until January and we are unable to confirm who will be teaching what year level. Therefore, we may not be able to honour all requests for a particular teacher. Secondly, by granting some requests by parents and not others, the school is placed in a position of conflict. In the interests of fairness and equity, we cannot make accommodations for some and not others. We welcome any concerns you may have and you can discuss these with the Director of Learning and Wellbeing of your child’s respective cohort. Please be assured that the process for class placements focuses on the overall learning and wellbeing needs of each student and supports them to grow in love, wonder and understanding. 

November commences with All Saints Day on 1 November and All Souls Day on 2 November. During this month, the Catholic Church observes a tradition of honouring and remembering both the Saints of the Church, as well as our departed relatives and friends. It’s a powerful reminder that, whether living or deceased, we all belong to the Communion of Saints, a spiritual unity that transcends time and space. It a reminder of those who have been faithful to the Gospel and how we are continually inspired to live a faith-filled life. These saints and these souls; these people, have gone before us and responded to the invitations of their time with imagination, creativity and courage. In honouring their journey, we also commit ourselves to living out our faith tradition in a way that honours the past and a confidence in a life beyond what we know.  

All Saints Day is also the feast of our parish church and community and we give thanks to those who have gone before us and paved the way to be the children of God and bring about the kingdom here on earth.

This week, we welcomed Fr Jim back to Port Augusta after some well earned leave in France. This leave saw him walking some hundreds of kilometres on the Camino, taking time to reflect and pray in lots of communities, but to renew and strengthen his relationship with God. We look forward to welcoming him back to our College community and to hear about his journey and adventures. In his absence, we also give thanks to Fr Ranjith and Fr Boguslaw who ministered to our parish and College community throughout September and October.  

It was wonderful to spend the beginning of Week 3 with all of the RE leaders of the Port Pirie diocese in Jamestown as we began to explore the 2024 theme, which I am excited to share with you at a later date. This was a time to deeply dive into the theme and what this may mean for our respective communities but also our diocese and how we can connect throughout the year. I know our community will be able to truly reflect deeply in 2024 on what our theme means for us, just as we have as we have considered our call to community. 

Last term, our Year 9 students explored the connection between science as human knowledge and our Catholic faith. They further developed innovations that use STEM concepts and uphold human dignity for those who are affected by a range of social justice issues. Over the last 2 weeks, students have shared their learning with the year level in pitch presentations. We have been fortunate to hear of innovations that target issues such as homelessness, food security, good health and wellbeing, education, and access to clean drinking water, just to name a few. This has been a great way to jump into their final topic of work this year based around Discipleship and Mission within community.