This week marks Family Week across Catholic schools and parishes. It is an opportunity to come together to celebrate the power of family relationships in all their diversity, and to recognise the importance of families in our lives and communities.

Our opening reflection is a prayer for families. We pray for all families in our school community. The prayer is quite short and simple – you might like to pray it together over the coming week, and make time to let others in your family know what you love and appreciate about them.

On Monday we gathered for our annual Mother’s Day breakfast. It was a lovely start to the week and we were delighted that so many mums, grandmothers, aunties and friends were able to join us, and to enjoy the delicious food and delightful company. There was much chat and laughter.

We thank Maryaan Essa for speaking at the breakfast. Maryaan reflected on her work as an obstetrician, supporting mothers through the pain and joy of birth and her own immense joy in the birth of her own children. Maryaan spoke about the difficulties of leaving Iraq with only three days’ notice, the challenges of living in Syria whilst waiting for visas to Australia, and finally settling to a new life in Australia. She gave voice to the strength, resilience and contribution of all mothers, and to the life-giving power of family. Maryaan’s story is the story of many in our community. We appreciate her grace and generosity in sharing it with us.

Thank you to the Student Leaders, Ms Laura Cioccia, Ms Connie LaMacchia, Mr Hayden O’Doherty and the their many assistants for organising and leading the breakfast, and to all who attended.

Feast Day 2023 

From today there are only seven sleeps to Feast Day on Friday 26 May 2023. This day is always a highlight on the College calendar. We begin with a school mass, followed by pastoral care activities and the annual Feast Day Carnival.

Over the past few weeks student leaders have been working hard to plan the carnival whilst the Liturgy Team is finalizing the mass. We’re very appreciative of the work both groups are doing.

School begins at the normal time of 8.40am and concludes at 3.10pm. It’s expected that all students attend unless they’re sick. Days such as Feast Day are important in building community and school spirit. Not that anyone would want to miss out on such a great day!

Carnival activities are free, however, there is a small cost for food. The canteen is open throughout the carnival and there’ll be various food stalls around the school. Students are encouraged to bring their lunch.

Fingers crossed that we’re blessed with a fine day! An alternative program will run should we have rain.

SACCSS Badminton

Thank you to the students who represented the College at the SACCSS Interschool Badminton Tournament. They displayed good skills, strong team spirit and supported each other very well.  Congratulations to Teresa Marsom (8 Edison) and Ruth Geordy (8 Hollows) who played in the final of the Junior Girls, losing narrowly in a very even grand final to North Keilor. 

Thank you to Mr Boudaher, Mr Dib and Mr Chuong for training and accompanying the teams.

Cyber Safety Awareness Night

It was great to see a good number of families at our Cyber Safety Awareness Night last week. Led by Trent and Amanda from the Cybersafety Project, it was an informative and engaging night. Thank you to Manal, Atem and Teresa, our Multicultural Education Aides who worked with Trent prior to the night to understand the material so that it could be presented in Dinka, Arabic and Vietnamese. This was much appreciated by families and generated much animated discussion.

Key advice to families included:

PLAN:  Research the app or game.

PREVENT:  Use privacy and safety and well-being settings.

PROTECT:  Chat regularly and show your kids how to get help.

Thank you to Mr Dale Marshall and Ms Laura Cioccia for organizing the night, and to all staff and families who attended.