News

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope you were able to have a good break considering the wintry weather we experienced during the holidays. Our students impressed us as they always do with their settling into the new term. Our NAIDOC Week assembly and activities kept us busy during Week 1 and we enjoyed Sand Art, rock painting and dancing just to name a few. We thank our Aboriginal Liaison Team and Mrs Cream and Ms Hepi for the organisation of the week. Last week our team attended the CPSSA Years 3-6 Interschool Cross Country. We were thrilled to bring home the Girls Shield. We congratulate all our students who not only competed but spent many weeks training with Mrs Openshaw and her team of helpers. Well done. We also thank Mr Martino and his team for the Year 11 Retreat last week where our students were able to devote some time for their personal reflection and growth. On Monday this week we held our Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival. We were truly blessed with the first dry and pleasant day for some time! I am sure that the children had a wonderful time competing in the various events. The staff worked hard in their preparation for the day and it was wonderful to watch the children give of their best and ‘having a go’. On Wednesday we look forward to enjoying the K-2 Athletics Carnival with our younger students. Our Robocup team competed in the State Final last weekend. Mr Hill tells me that the student had a great time and learnt many new things as they competed against the outer teams. Our new catering provider is now operating our Cafe and we are so pleased that many of our familiar faces in the Cafe have chosen to remain at our College with the new company. We thank you for your patience as adjustments are made and we look forward to continued good service and increased choice for our students. We congratulate Mrs Elosie Armstrong and her husband on the arrival of their young son last week. We send the family our love and best wishes. This term we welcome Ms Delia Curetan to our staff in her role as French teacher, and Mrs Catherine O’Grady in her role as House Mother. We wish Ms Hepi an enjoyable long service leave for the next few weeks. Attached to this newsletter is a letter from Dr Debra Sayce, Executive Director CEWA, which we have been asked to distribute to our families here. Carmen Cox Principal

As winter sets in, and after this current lockdown, I am sure that everyone in our community is looking forward to a restful two-week break. Once again, we have had to be flexible at very short notice, and I am pleased to say we have accomplished this in just a few days. Our students are to be commended for their diligence and hard work this term, and I know that many are pleased with the fruits of their semester’s work. Thank you to the many families who made contact with our staff to discuss their children’s progress during our virtual parent-teacher-student interviews. If you have any concerns and were not able to schedule a time with your child’s teachers, I do encourage you to contact them next term so that any issues can be addressed. One of the many highlights of each term is the Spirit of Mercy Assembly. Our students performed Dance and Musical routines, and students were acknowledged for their witness to the values of the College. It is always such a pleasure to gather together and appreciate this special time as a whole school and I am grateful that we were able to be together last week. Students have been enjoying many activities this term, including sporting competitions, the Seeds of Justice Conference, language dinners, excursions, our fun EduDance lessons, along with many social activities with Mazenod College. I congratulate our students for their enthusiasm and commitment to these events. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our EduDance Concert, some excursions, guest speakers, and the Year 12 Retreat was cut short. Students coped well with all these changes. We will see if it is possible to reschedule these events next term, but already Term 3 is busy with other activities. We will try our best! Our students were very fortunate as they were able to enjoy many activities throughout the first ten weeks of this term, and I am sure you will join me in thanking our staff who gave of their time to ensure the students enjoyed a real and varied experience of school life. We congratulate our Year 6 students who received the Sacrament of Confirmation last weekend. It was a moving experience for us to share as a community. This term we farewell Ms Yvonne Hasson, Ms Anne Chamot, Ms Patricia Histed, Ms Olivia Barbarich and Ms Tina Hayden as they move on to new ventures. We thank them for the care and commitment they have given to our students. We also farewell some of the staff members of Chartwells, who have been the providers of services in our Café and Boarding House kitchen for some years. Services in the Café and Boarding kitchen will continue as per usual under the new provider. Next term we welcome back Mrs Tiffany Morrissy from leave, and Ms Delia Curetan to the Languages Department. Friday, 2nd July is a student free day as staff spend time on professional development. Monday, 19th July is a student free day with staff also engaged in a variety of professional development topics with various guest speakers. If all goes to plan, school resumes for all students on Tuesday, 20th July. Please continue to monitor the Premier’s announcements in case restrictions change. Let us be optimistic that this latest outbreak can be nipped in the bud. I take this opportunity to send a gentle reminder to parents to check their child’s winter uniform needs, including a check on hems that may need to be lengthened and ties that may need to be replaced. As we await further news regarding our State’s COVID restrictions, I hope that you are able to enjoy a happy holiday, and pray that Our Lord will keep you safe in your activities, give you good rest and good fun. I imagine that some holiday plans may have had to be put on hold! God bless, Carmen Cox Principal

It feels like we have just settled into Term 2 but our College is a hive of activity with NAPLAN and Year 12 ESTs now completed and preparations for senior examinations well underway. In amongst these important milestones, I enjoy hearing about the many activities the students have been involved with such as incursions, excursions, house activities and guest speakers. Since our last Enews we have farewelled Ms Loretta Dayman. We welcome to our College Ms Vivian Bahbah, teacher of Psychology and Science and Ms Nicole Luckman, HR and Compliance Officer. This week we will farewell Mrs Katrina Fiolo. Mrs Fiolo has been at our College for many years and has held a variety of roles. We wish her all the best in her new role. We thank Mrs Benedetta Heys who will take on some of the responsibilities in the Learning Differences portfolio as an interim measure. Our inaugural Mother’s Day morning tea was a huge success (not to mention compliant with the then COVID restrictions) and I’m told we served approximately 600 morning teas! Thank you to those who were able to join us, it is always a pleasure to have such functions at our College. I would like to thank the parents who were able to attend one of our Strategic Planning meetings and provided their input. As part of the planning process we have also interviewed a number of students in survey groups. The feedback gathered, along with that of the staff and Advisory Council, will guide our priorities and decision making over the coming years. Sport has been well and truly on our agenda in recent weeks. We held our Interschool Athletics Carnival blessed with beautiful weather after a few days of heavy rain and our Primary School girls and boys enjoyed their interschool competition displaying some excellent results and fantastic sportsmanship. The ACC Cross-Country team ventured to Alderbury Reserve to compete against over 80 Catholic Schools from across WA. The girls trained hard for over two months to produce some very pleasing results. Our Student Council Executive too has been busy, holding a meeting with their Mazenod College counterparts. A review of last term’s activities and discussions around their respective Term 2 plans formed the basis of the meeting. The students are keen to also plan some joint sustainability and social justice themed activities for next semester. National Boarding Week last week was a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of boarding life within our College and to participate in events across the country in solidarity with almost 25,000 students Australia wide who call a boarding school home. Boarding is at the foundation of our history with the College’s first boarding students, 35 in all, arriving on 21 April 1929, with Mother Teresa Rielly and seven Mercy Sisters. Since then, thousands of young women have called St Brigid’s Boarding home. A number of our student leaders attended the Archbishop’s Forum and Official Launch for LifeLink Day for Secondary Schools held at Aranmore College recently with representatives from 28 Archdiocesan Secondary schools. This year, the entire format of the Forum was designed to be more a more educational, interactive, and enjoyable experience for all participants. The Archbishop delivered a presentation which led to a number of questions posed to the students for discussion. The students really welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback, ideas and suggestions during open question time which also included being able ask any questions of the Bishop – personal, faith or political. I had the pleasure this week, along with Head of Primary, Ms Tan and students, Joshua D’Silva and Ella Evangelista Comito, to attend the 200 years of Catholic education in Australia Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. This National Mass was celebrated simultaneously across Australia on the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, to mark the occasion. Parents are reminded that Friday 4 June is a student free day. Our staff will be involved in the implementation of the Keeping Safe curriculum at our College. At this time of year, a large part of my time is spent in the very enjoyable task of interviewing students for 2022 and 2023. Can I please remind families that applications for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten need to be submitted as soon as possible as only vacancies are limited. If you have family or friends who are interested in Year 7 enrolment, do let them know that interviews for 2023 will be commencing shortly. As we prepare to welcome winter, we thank you for the help you have been providing in supplying food to be donated to our Term 2 charity. Our focus in Term 2 is on LifeLink and the work they do in helping those in need. I am delighted to announce the following Scholarship recipients for 2022 and congratulate the girls on their achievement. God Bless Carmen Cox

Welcome back to Term 2. We have had a great start to the Term and already the Campus is alive with activity. We welcome back Mrs Amanda Savino and Mrs Sharryn Cunningham from their Term 1 leave. We also welcome the following new staff to our community: Ms Brooke McKnight, Library Technician Mrs Jo Cunningham, Primary Health and Physical Education Ms Patricia Histed, Secondary Science Ms Honor Lane, Health and Physical Education Mrs Linda McGrath, Teacher – Year 5 Ms Sasha Wells, Ms Tina Hayden, Ms Rebekah Smith and Ms Georgia King who will be working with our Aboriginal students, both at school and at our Boarding Houses. We farewell Ms Karen Evans, Human Resources/Risk and Compliance Officer and wish her well as she travels to Kalgoorlie for her new appointment. We thank our families for your patience as our blazer delivery is delayed. We are continuing to monitor the situation with our suppliers, and will advise as soon as we have a definite delivery date. The secondary students have enjoyed the opportunity of wearing socks while the weather remains conducive, however, there are still a few skirts that have been outgrown and need upsizing! We request that hemlines be adjusted to comply with the required length this weekend, or a new skirt purchased. Thank you for your support. The Parent Forum meeting will be held on Wednesday, 5th May and you are reminded that you will be given the opportunity to give your input into our next Strategic Plan at this meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 9.00a.m., with a second meeting for parent input to be held at 6.30p.m. Both meetings will be held in the College Staff Room and you are requested to RSVP by registering online through trybooking using the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/BQHNM We are looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day on Friday, 7th May. All Mums are invited to attend the Primary School Assembly at 9.00a.m. followed by morning tea with their child /children. For catering purposes, and to allow us to notify teachers of the child/children involved, please booking using the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/BQSGN by Tuesday, 4th May. We look forward to sharing a ‘cup of tea’ with you in the true tradition of Mercy hospitality. We thank the many community members who have prayed for, and sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mrs Willock, during her illness. We are happy to share that she is recuperating well with her family at home. As we look forward to the weekend, please keep our Year 4 children in your prayers as they prepare to make their First Holy Communion commitment during the Masses this weekend. God Bless, Carmen Cox Principal

As we come to the end of a very short Term, one that has certainly flown by, I look back on the many wonderful and varied experiences that our students have taken part in. I must say that after the first week of wearing masks, life slowly returned to our ‘new normal.’ We enjoyed several Swimming Carnivals, Secondary Athletics Inter-House competitions, many excursions, guest speakers, Year group Liturgies, Open Day, Stations of the Cross, whole school Masses and welcoming picnics. One of the highlights of the Term was our ability to gather together as a whole school to acknowledge the Spirit of Mercy recipients and our 2020 Year 12 High Achievers. We were able to reflect upon the success of the 2020 cohort, and congratulate these students on their achievements. We also congratulated the students who received Spirit of Mercy Awards in recognition of their commitment to the Mercy values in their school life. SEQTA was made available to students and parents this Term and we are pleased at the relatively smooth transition to this new platform. Of course, behind the scenes there is much preparation and adjustment being made, but Reports were published to schedule and our Parent Teacher meetings have been booked. Thank you to the many families who are to meet with their children’s teachers and receive 1:1 feedback. As we progress through the year and become more familiar with SEQTA, it is our intention to make more features available to our community. From Term 2, parents will be able to access their Finance information and their child’s archived documents through SEQTA Engage. Our staff and members of the College’s Advisory Council are currently discussing and planning for the College’s next Strategic Plan. On Wednesday, 5th May, we will invite parents to one of two meetings in order to provide feedback on our vision for the College for the next five years. We hope that many of you will take this opportunity to participate. The Parent Forum will be held at 9.00a.m. on that day and an opportunity to share in the Strategic Planning will take place during this meeting. Furthermore, for those who prefer, a Strategic Planning session for parents will be held on the same day at 6.30p.m. in the College Staff Room. During this Term we welcomed three new staff members to our College, Mrs Jessica Coolican as College Nurse, Mr Paul Davies who joins our Property and Works team, and Ms Sasha Wells as Aboriginal Liaison worker. We said farewell to Mrs Cate Mitchell, Mr Ali Shah, Ms Kara Moss and Ms Nicole Kirry as they move on to other positions. We thank them for their time and commitment to our students. We also wish Mrs Jenn McDougall and Mrs Tiffany Morrissy our best wishes as they commence their leave. School recommences for students on Tuesday, 20th April. Students will return in their winter uniform. The change for 2021 is that female students may choose to wear socks, rather than tights with their winter uniform, on a normal school day. Obviously, when the weather becomes much colder, tights will be the more practical option for the girls. For special occasions, such as College photos, or when representing the College, they will still need to wear College tights. We ask that you spend some time over the holidays ensuring that your child’s winter uniform is in good order. As we approach Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate the Risen Lord, may we remember Jesus’ sacrifice and give thanks for what he has brought to our world. We wish you a blessed and Holy Easter and pray that God may shower you with blessings, love and peace. Our Archbishop, Timothy Costelloe, has requested that we share his Easter message with you. Please access it here. God bless, Carmen Cox Principal

After a COVID-19 postponed start to the new school year, our students and staff hit the ground running. The College has been a hive of activity with a range of events including House Assemblies, Swimming Carnivals, Parent Information Nights, activity days, camps and excursions to name just a few. Despite mandatory mask wearing for the first week back, everyone’s enthusiasm was clearly evident. Our whole School Assembly, held on Day One, allowed us to welcome new staff and students to the College community. We also announced our 2021 values – Compassion and Hospitality. Through references to the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the works of Catherine McAuley, these values and how we can best live them in our daily interactions with one another, were highlighted. The children all received a small memento to remind them of these values throughout the year and I hope they have discussed its symbolism with you at home. It was just wonderful to come together at our Opening Mass in our beautiful Heritage Cottage garden and give thanks for a new year. At the conclusion of Mass, we were delighted to announce Year 11 boarder, Madison Hall, as the recipient of the Mercy Education Award. The award is presented annually to a student who demonstrates leadership in the Mercy tradition and who lives the values of Compassion, Justice, Respect, Hospitality, Courage and Service. Madison was presented with her award by Mercy Education Board Director, Mary Retel. The Cottage setting was also the venue for a delightful afternoon picnic last weekend, hosted by the Parent Forum to welcome families, especially those joining us for the first time. Year 6 and Year 9 students attended the Caritas Australia Project Compassion Launch 2021 yesterday. Representatives from 35 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Perth and Bunbury attended on Shrove Tuesday at Corpus Christi College, Bateman. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Mass with the Most Rev. Timothy Costelloe SDB, Archbishop of Perth, and to give thanks for the fundraising and awareness-raising activities that Catholic schools in our Archdiocese undertake in support of Caritas Australia. Students had the opportunity learn about a number of projects and to reflect on our collective ongoing response to enormous issues of poverty and increasing inequality in our world today. Last week we celebrated Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. Lent is a time when we are encouraged to think about the mystery of Jesus’ life and death and how we can grow to be more loving by following Jesus’ way. During the season of Lent we reflect upon our lives and turn back to God in preparation for the coming season of Easter. Thank you to Mr Adrian Martino and the College Ministry Leaders for their work in organising a very reverent liturgy for us. I would like to highlight the work that Catholic School Parents Western Australia (CSPWA) engage in, which extends far beyond supporting P&Fs/Parent Groups; it benefits ALL parents in the Catholic school system. A copy of their Term 1 Newsletter may be found at the following link: here and includes a number of articles that may be of interest to you. Sadly, as we conclude our week, we say farewell to our College Nurse, Cate Mitchell. I know you will join with me in wishing Cate much happiness and fulfillment in her new position with Diabetes Australia. Thank you, Cate, for your professionalism, support and care of our students over a number of years. As we approach the first mid-term break this Friday, 26th February, we hope that our girls and boys will have an opportunity to recharge after a hectic, but extremely rewarding first few weeks. Our staff will begin work on updating the College’s Strategic Plan with a Professional Development Day on Friday. Our hope is that the Strategic Plan will articulate a shared vision, mission and values to enable us to work towards common goals. With this in mind, we will also be seeking feedback from both students and parents in the very near future. I conclude by wishing all families a very happy long weekend which extends from Friday 26th February to Monday 1st March and look forward to welcoming all students back to school on Campus on Tuesday, 2nd March. God Bless Carmen Cox Principal