From the Principal
As we enter our 4th week of home learning, I know we are all feeling the strain of the current situation. As numbers continue to remain high and COVID cases spread across our region, there is a feeling of helplessness that can overcome us. I wrote to you all last week encouraging you to see this as an opportunity to grow in perseverance and resilience, as that is what will help sustain us through this period.
We also need each other, and it is important we look out for each other and reach out to others to give support and encouragement. While keeping within the regulations, we all need to do what we can to support each other. This is the hallmark of a strong community – we not only care for ourselves but we care for others.
As I write this (Thursday), we are still expecting our Year 12s to return on 16 August and begin their Trial HSC Examinations on Wednesday 18 August. We appreciate that in the midst of this volatile situation, the Premier is trying to give some certainty to these students about a return to school and to keep their focus on the HSC Exams starting in October.
Today also, we have all been watching our past student, Nicola McDermott jumping in the Olympic High Jump qualifiers and are very excited that she has made it through to the finals on Saturday evening. Knowing something of her story gives us hope that in spite of life’s challenges, we can get through when we understand our place in God’s economy, when we draw on the strength He provides and when we commit to the task set before us. She is showing our students a great example which they can follow in whatever field they find their calling.
I was delighted today to get a copy of recordings from one of our senior music teachers of the work of two of our Year 11 students. I continue to be amazed at the talent that lies in our student body and that in spite of the current home learning situation, our students continue to seek to do their best. Please click on links below to listen and enjoy their talent. This is inspiring and this is what we need in these days.
Remember that, as the desert Fathers used to say about their problems, “This too shall pass.” All these things have a time span and our job is to patiently wait it out, do the right thing and stick together.
Phillip Nash
Principal