Dear Parents & Friends of St Clare’s

Welcome to the final newsletter for Semester 1 2021.

It has been a pleasure to meet and talk with the families of the young people seeking to enrol at St Clare’s as part of the Year 7 cohort of 2022.  Enrolment numbers are strong and we look forward to continuing the interview process for enrolments over the first few weeks of Term 3.  If you have a friend or family member who is yet to make arrangements for enrolment, please encourage them to ring the St Clare’s Office and make an appointment for an enrolment interview.

The recent rainfall and closure of the local sporting fields meant that we were not be able to hold our annual Athletics Carnival.  Aside from missing a great community building day, the cancellation of the event has ramifications for those athletes looking to progress to regional and state athletic events.  Usually their personal best from the previous season would serve as a guide, but as we know the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 ensured that large scale sporting events were not held.  No doubt the representative sporting community is wrestling with the problem and will supply some guidelines in the not too distant future.

Thank you to the parents who offered some feedback regarding the recent Year 7 to 11 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews.  Much of the feedback was positive although a few parents raised issues around the length of the individual interview times and the starting and finishing times of the day.  This feedback will help inform discussion with staff and the formation of our next Parent/Teacher/Student Interview session.

 Opening of the Garden Shed built by the Year 12 Construction Class
Vaughn Strybis, Tait Critchley, Jackson Martin & Nicholas May

This Wednesday, Fr George conducted mass for a group of Year 9 students.  The sharing of prayer time together and receiving of the Eucharist is an important part of the learning that takes place at St Clare’s.  While many students are conversant with the Catholic Faith and traditions some are less so and I thank Ministry Coordinator Denise Ryan, staff member Laura Boere, members of the Religious Education Department, Deacon Vince Ryan and Fr George for their considerable work and effort in helping our young people to learn and grow in faith.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, this year’s annual Snowy/Canberra Excursion will include students from Years 9 and 10.  While planning for this year’s trip is well advanced, we are watching the events in Sydney with some anxiety and recognise that our plans are subject to change at short notice, should the COVID pandemic ‘again’ cause closure of state and territory borders.  My thanks to Camp organiser Mr Phill Carney and Pastoral Coordinators Nicole Lovern, Year 9 and Bronwen Davidson, Year 10 for their work in preparing our young people for their snow adventure.

As we approach the holiday period, it is sobering for our HSC students to consider that they have approximately ten weeks of formal lessons to complete before they sit their HSC exams.  The holidays offer a great opportunity for students to solidify their learning, identify gaps in their knowledge and work with diligence and sustained effort to make the most of their skills and talents.  I encourage all parents and caregivers to have a conversation around how our senior students will use their holiday period to ensure that they are best prepared for the final few weeks of HSC study.

I urge all parents to pay careful attention to the NSW Government COVID-19 guidelines and to be aware that activities undertaken during the holidays could affect a student’s ability to attend school at the beginning of Term 3.

Thank you to all parents and carers for your support of the school.  I hope you and your family have a safe and restful holiday period and that your sons and daughters return refreshed on Tuesday, 13 July for another wonderful term of learning.

God bless

Peter Nicholls
Principal

Special General Meeting

Over a long period of time, the St Clare’s Parents & Friends group has served as a fundraiser and an important forum for discussing issues of concern to the school community.

Over recent years it has become very difficult to find office bearers and achieve a quorum at the P & F’s regular meetings.

Last night we held a P & F meeting to discuss a new model of parent and carer engagement for St Clare’s High School. Unfortunately, the response to that meeting was very limited.

The purpose of this letter is to give notice for a Special General Meeting of the members of the P & F Association (which includes all parents and carers of students at St Clare’s High School Taree) for the purpose of discussing the future of the St Clare’s High School Taree P & F Association and to consider a path forward.  The P & F Association currently has funds in its account, however, these are unable to be accessed as a quorum has been unable to be achieved for some time resulting in decisions not being able to be made.

Cath Garrett-Jones, the Family Engagement Officer at the Catholic Schools Office will be available to talk briefly about the options available at that meeting and to answer any questions.

What is the Parent Engagement Group (PEG) Model all about?

The Federation of Parents and Friends have developed a new model of engagement called PEG – Parent Engagement Group.

This model is reflected in our recent move towards dedicated evenings for parents and community members to be held at the school. This model allows parents and carers to build their capacity to be more deeply engaged in their child’s learning and to participate in some opportunities to be involved in decision making in the school.

A PEG meeting could typically include:

• Formal Welcome
• Acknowledgement of Country
• Prayer
• Apologies/Principal’s Report
• Educative component - The Educative Component is intended to be an opportunity for parents and carers to engage more deeply in their child's learning. A PEG could include a presentation about an aspect of the curriculum such as Senior Academic Writing, supporting BYOD and research into cyberspace. It could also include expert advice on Adolescent wellbeing and development or Cyber Safety for teens and their families.  Guest speakers and expert commentary would be part of this initiative.
• Questions with notice submitted one week prior to the meeting to the Principal.
• Details of the next meeting including the identification of some learning parents and carers would like to participate in.

It is envisaged that PEG sessions would happen at least every term and does not rely upon parents or carers to take on Executive roles.  If any funds are raised by the PEG, they are to be utilised and managed in accordance with the P & F Association Constitution and only used for the purpose of education.

I look forward to meeting with you on Monday, 12 July in the Josephite Centre.

Should you have any concerns or questions about this process, please do not hesitate to contact me or alternatively Cath Garrett-Jones on E: cath.garrett-jones@mn.catholic.edu.au or 4979 1303.