Dear Parents & Friends of St Clare’s

I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe.

Term 3 has thrown up a series of challenges and disruptions to students, parents and staff.  Many family and school plans were scuttled and anticipated events postponed or cancelled due to the intervention of the pandemic.  I would like to thank all members of the school community; parents, students and staff for the way we have supported each other in very unpredictable and trying times.

 Georgia Rourke, Year 11 & Tessa Rourke, Year 7

I am very proud of the smooth transition the community made to online learning.  Students, staff and parents showed great flexibility and a wonderful collaborative spirit to work together to ensure online classes took place each day.  It was also gratifying to have students report positively about their wellbeing during the lockdown period, with students reporting that they felt safe and able to learn.

The return to face-to-face teaching was completed with similar speed and success.  It has been wonderful to welcome students to the campus and to share in the great energy and sense of fun that students and staff bring to the learning and teaching process.

I had some teachers ask their students what were the best things about the return to face-to-face teaching.  Here is what they had to say…

Charlie, Year 11
Being able to be able to do school work in different places and move from classroom to classroom.  I was starting to struggle with sitting at the same chair all day and looking at a screen for a long time.  Also being able to see mates again.

Harry, Year 10
Being able to see mates again.

Jai, Year 10
Being able to do practical lessons again and do more ‘hands-on’ activities.

Blake, Year 10
Face-to-face learning is easier because of everything we can use to learn in different ways.  It’s more difficult to sit in front of a laptop all day.

Fraser, Year 11
Pretty much just the social aspect.  Being able to have more face-to-face interactions with friends. I don’t really like wearing a mask around all day though.

Alex, Year 11
It’s really nice to have more firm structure again.

Megan, Year 9

• Catching up with my friends
• Being able to get more direction from teachers face to face rather than on a screen
• Having access to equipment and do practical lessons (photography, drama)

Year 9 Clare Group 1

• seeing friends
• getting back on track with your learning
• being able to properly communicate with the teachers
• getting out of the house 
• the canteen
• maths workshop
• being able to properly understand what the teachers ask of you 
• been easier to get help with work 

Year 9PC4

• seeing teachers
• seeing students
• canteen

Our students are glad to be “back” and happy to have the opportunity to work and learn with their friends and teachers.

The HSC Industrial Technology Timber major works have been on display in the library hub for the past few days.  The works are complex and beautiful.  They could not have been completed to such an excellent standard without the outstanding knowledge and leadership of the group’s teacher Mr David Hutchison who invested countless hours outside the timetable to help those in his care complete their projects on time.  My congratulations to the students and David who have worked hard and shown great resilience under adverse conditions.  They should be very proud of what they have achieved.

Congratulations are extended to our Year 12 Drama class who submitted their final performances for HSC grading on Monday, the HSC Music and Art classes who completed their final works recently.  Usually the students, parents and wider community would have had the opportunity to view and acclaim the Music, Art and Drama works at St Clare’s regular performance and display evenings.  Unfortunately, the performers, artists and their families were deprived of this opportunity by the COVID-19 Pandemic and subsequent lockdown guidelines.  I share the students’ disappointment that they were unable to showcase their excellent skills and thank their teachers Mr Callam Howard, Mr Wayne McDougall and Mrs Lyndall Laurie for their many extra hours they shared with students helping them to hone their technical and performance skills.

A little further into the newsletter, we have shown some photos of the beautiful artwork produced by our Year 12 students. 

We are continuing to conduct enrolment interviews for Year 7 in 2022.  Our numbers for the year are very strong.  If you know of a family member or friend who has yet to lodge their enrolment forms, please encourage them to do so before the start of Term 4.

At present, St Clare’s is the only secondary school in the Maitland-Newcastle system of schools with students participating in face-to-face learning and teaching.  The rest are operating under Stage 4 lockdown regulations.

The school reopens for Term 4 on Tuesday, 5 October.  At present we expect to welcome students to face-to-face teaching under the same Level 3 guidelines that have informed our practice over the course of the last week of Term 3.  Families will be notified by Compass if the health guidelines that cover our LGA impact on our Term 4 plan.

Again, my thanks for your support of the St Clare’s staff as we work together to supply an excellent Catholic Education to the young people in our care.

God bless

Peter Nicholls
Principal