Ms Susanna Bond Acting Co-Principal	Mrs Susan McGann Acting Co-Principal

“Be not afraid.”

These three words, spoken by Pope John Paul ll during his papal installation Mass on October 22, 1978, have become synonymous with the man who was canonised 36 years later as St Pope John Paul the Great and whose feast day we now celebrate on October 22.

In his 27 years of papal ministry, John Paul II wrote 14 encyclicals and five books, canonized 482 saints and beatified 1,338 people. In the last years of his life, he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was forced to cut back on some of his activities.

Pope John Paul II was all about the importance of human interaction, affection, and building relationships. He travelled tirelessly to reach Catholics throughout the world who had never experienced the joy of a visit from their Pope. He extended his arms physically and spiritually to young people, families and the elderly and invited back into the fold any of the flock who had strayed. Though - or perhaps because - he had personally witnessed the devastating effects of communism and Nazism, he never let fear hold him back from bringing the presence of Christ to the world. Neither should we let fear overwhelm our faith.

NEWS

A warm welcome back to Term four. This term is usually one filled with much busyness and, before we know it, it will be the end of the year!  We thank you for the support you have offered as we have taken on the responsibilities of Acting Co-Principals for the remainder of Term 4.  In the meantime, our office doors are always open and we hope you know how welcome you are to contact either of us to share both positive news and any issues of concern. 

We wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary energy, commitment and expertise of Joe Sandric, who left us at short notice last week to take up the position of Acting Principal at St James Catholic College in Cygnet.  Joe’s warm and welcoming presence at the College will be greatly missed by students, staff, parents and the wider College community. Joe embodied the ethos of our College community through his kindness, generosity and compassion, as well as his unerring optimism. Joe has most capably led the College through a period of significant change and substantial growth. We wish him well in his new position and know that he is already missed at St Aloysius.  

VALIDATION

On Monday and Tuesday this week, the College community has been involved in the process of Validation. A panel, consisting of Damian Brennan (Chair, based in Queensland), Cameron Brown (Director: South), and Martin Tobin (Director: Catholic Identity and Evangelisation) and Elizabeth McDougall (peer Principal from Sacred Heart College) met with the College leadership team and various panels of students, staff, parents, board members and Fr Chris Hope.

Validation is a point-in-time opportunity to explore the College’s current achievements and goals in its process of on going school improvement for learning.

Validation provides system assurance about:

1. The College’s progress in responding to the Archbishop’s Charter
2. The involvement of the College community in on going improvement for learning &
3. How the College is meeting the Tasmanian non-Government Schools Registration Board Standards.

We are appreciative of all the participants in this process and thank them for their wisdom, honesty and involvement. The recommendations and feedback from the panel will inform our School Improvement Plan and our strategic directions in the years ahead.

SENIOR COLLEGE PROJECT

Last Thursday, a small staff team met with Principal Elect, Eamonn Pollard and Adam Mulcahy from CET to discuss some of the next steps in the very exciting Senior College Project. The Planning for Implementation Team (PIT) will become the Steering Committee for the project as we move forward. At this stage, we are providing advice to CET in relation to the internal fit out of our new campus so that we are able to provide an inviting, appropriate and contemporary learning environment for our students as they enter their senior years of education. We meet again on Tuesday, 3rd November and will keep you updated on our progress.

We will also be forming four subcommittees in the very near future which will make recommendations to the PIT - 9-12 Curriculum; Catholic Ethos and Mission; 9-12 Pastoral Care and  Building and Grounds. These committees, which will be meeting regularly, will be working closely with Catholic Education Tasmania and our partner Colleges in the Greater Hobart Review - St Virgils and MacKillop. 

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Brad Canning has been appointed to the position of Deputy Principal Middle School Grade 5 - 8 commencing 1st January 2021.  Brad is currently Assistant Deputy Principal at St Virgil's College (2016 - current). During this time Brad has held the position of Acting Deputy Principal (Terms 2 & 3, 2018 and Terms 2 & 3 2019).

We look forward to welcoming Brad to the College next year.

GRADE 10 FORMAL

Last night the Grade 10 students headed to Peppermint Bay to celebrate the end of their High School education. Thank you to Mrs Natasha Harris for her patience, wonderful organisation skills and flexibility as she has repeatedly had to modify plans due to the gradual easing of COVID restrictions.  We extend our thanks to Wisby buses who have kindly donated the buses to transport the students to the venue.

STAFFING

We welcome the following staff to the College:

• Julie Hoddy -  Teacher Assistant: Arts & Technologies. Julie had been acting in this role on a temporary basis.  We now welcome Julie to staff on a permanent basis.
• Emma Callanan - Prep Blue teacher. Emma is replacing Mrs Nat Brook who is taking maternity leave
• Allison Twining - Grade 1 White teacher. Allison is replacing Mrs Jules Park who is taking maternity leave. Allison was working in the College each Friday providing our graduate teachers with additional release. 
• Allison Jackson - Graduate teacher release time at Kingston Campus