Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Clare’s

I hope you and your loved ones are safe, fit and well.

You would be aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of teachers is having on schools across the country.  The winter spread of the virus has ensured that the Taree area is not immune from the challenges that student and teacher COVID infections bring to the day to day operations of our school.  I am extremely proud of resilience of staff and students and the way in which they have responded to the prevalent changes in the daily timetable.  I also thank Admin Coordinator Stacy Posadas and Assistant Principal Phillip Gibney for their collaboration and leadership in their ongoing efforts to navigate St Clare’s through the COVID-19 environment.

HSC trials, which are an important part of the HSC year, continue this week.  I am delighted to report that staff are very pleased with the way in which our senior students have responded to the trial exam period, particularly in the areas of personal organisation and exam readiness.  It is a busy time of year for our HSC candidates and their teachers, for as well as the trials, a number of major works become due over the next few school days.  In the next four weeks we will have visits from examiners to view and grade works from TAS, Music, Visual Arts and Drama.

It was great to welcome a large turnout of students, staff, and parents to the Year 10 Parent Information evening last week.  The meeting highlighted the HSC process for parents and students and recommended that students consider carefully, and choose their subjects based on their passion and interest before submitting their preferred course of study to the online process.  My thanks to Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching Theresa Avery and the many staff who helped make the evening such a success.

Year 9 returned from their Canberra/Snowy Trip last Friday.  They had a great time, and their stories and adventures will stay with them throughout their lives.  The organisation of the trip is a major undertaking and I thank Phillip Carney for his extensive work to make the trip happen and for the excellent staff who attended the trip and ensured that the students had a wonderful experience in a happy and safe environment.  A Canberra/Snowy Report will be included in the next newsletter.

Over the next few weeks, we will publicise the dates for a series of community events to celebrate the end of 13 years of schooling for the HSC cohort of 2022.  I am extremely grateful for the work of St Clare’s Ministry Coordinator Jason Koenig, Year 12 Leader of Wellbeing and Engagement Todd Curtis and St Clare’s support staff and our Parish Priests, for their work with and on behalf of our Year 12 students.

Last Friday St Clare’s had the pleasure of hosting the Tell Me A Story awards ceremony in the Josephite Centre.  It was a wonderful event that promoted literacy and engaged parents, students and teachers in a creative process that can only serve to enhance the learning outcomes of the primary school students from across our area.

In closing I would like to thank all members of our school community for their continued resilience and support as we all work together to supply a first-class Catholic education for the young people in our care.

God Bless

 

Peter Nicholls
Principal