Dear Parents & Friends of St Clare’s

The past 12 to 14 months have presented considerable challenges to our community and school.  I am proud of our staff and students’ resilience and care for each other under trying conditions.  I am also thankful to parents and caregivers for their support of St Clare’s as we work together to supply a quality Catholic education to the young people in our care.

Those who have been following the St Clare’s Facebook page, Compass feeds and recent newsletters will note the many positive community building activities that the school undertakes throughout the school year.  While COVID-19 has limited some events and forced the re-imagining of others, the school has remained committed to ensuring that St Clare’s remains a place of welcome and hope for all our families.

The recent Year 12 Retreat, sporting events and excursions have allowed our young people to grow spiritually, socially and academically.  Our staffs’ willingness to organise these events and our young people’s willingness to join in and collaborate with each other, has seen them continue to thrive against the background of the calamity that the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking on many countries around the world.

I ask that you resist becoming complacent about the need to sanitise and that you keep your son or daughter at home should they feel less than 100%.  By keeping people home while they are ill, you are protecting the school community from infection and ensuring that, once returned to health, your sons and daughters will have a fully functioning school to return to when cured of their illness.

Last week’s Open Afternoon attracted many families from across the Manning and Great Lakes Region.  We have received a great amount of positive feedback, especially about the calibre of the St Clare’s student tour leaders who led families around the campus.  My thanks to all our students from Years 7 to 12 who showed great leadership and pride in our school by sharing their positive and thoughtful response to those visiting our school.  They certainly ‘welcomed the stranger’ to our learning environment!

 The annual Canberra/Snowy Excursion has, for many years, been a much anticipated feature of the Year 9 calendar.  Sadly, due to the pandemic, the trip was cancelled in 2020.

At the time of cancellation, the school executive made the decision to open the excursion up for both Year 9 and Year 10 “as a one off” for 2021.

Over the past six months, information about the snowy excursion has been given to Year 9 and Year 10 students and posted on Compass to parents.  At the time of writing, the trip has been fully subscribed and there is a waiting list for Year 9 and Year 10 students.  At present, we expect that the trip will take place, however, all school events and undertakings are subject to government rules around the pandemic and as such, all plans are subject to change with very short notice.  I will provide regular updates about the Canberra/Snowy Excursion in the newsletter over coming weeks.

Our regular small group masses are underway, due to the generosity of Fr George of Taree and Fr Greg of Forster who take time out of their busy schedules to lead our students and staff in regular discussion and worship.  The masses, retreat and reflection days offer our young people great opportunities for personal and spiritual growth and I thank our parish priests for their support of the young people in their parishes and in our school.

Notification of a Public Meeting

The St Clare’s Parents & Friends has, for many years provided significant advice and ‘parent voice’ to the school executive.

In recent years it has proven difficult to attract a sufficient number of parents to the group to ensure that it operated in accordance with its constitution.

In response to this trend, the Diocese has designed an alternative constituted body called a Parent Engagement Group to ensure that ‘parents voice’ is present in the school.

There will be a public meeting in the Josephite Centre on Wednesday, 2 June at 6 pm to discuss options and ensure a continued presence of parent voice at St Clare’s.

As we near World Environment Day, your son or daughter may approach you to allow them to leave school to attend a protest during the school day.  The school does not endorse any student being absent from class on these occasions.

This week we trialled a different format for our Year 7 to Year 11 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews.

I would welcome feedback from parents regarding the change of format for our Year 7 to Year 11 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews which were held on Wednesday from 9 am to 4:30 pm.  Feedback can be emailed to admin@tareesc.catholic.edu.au.

God bless

Peter Nicholls
Principal