Welcome back all students, families and staff to Term 3! It was wonderful to see so much excitement and positivity across the school and students engaging in their learning after the much-needed mid-year break. It is important we keep this momentum up and continue to foster this positive engagement with all aspects of school life. 

I take this opportunity to wish our Principal Andrew Kendall OAM all the best for his professional renewal leave and much deserved long service leave this term. I also extend a warm welcome to Claire Bugden, who returns full time to the teaching staff after 12 months maternity leave, as well as Michelle Smith, who joins our school community for Semester 2 in her role as Art and Humanities teacher on secondary. 

Last week, I was fortunate to attend the installation ceremony for our 7^th Bishop, Ken Howell, at St Patrick’s Cathedral with our school captains Hannah Widderick and Taylah Organ. It was a wonderful ceremony, with Bishop Ken speaking enthusiastically about his rich connection to the Darling Downs and wider communities within our diocese. Bishop Ken spoke of his desire to visit each parish and school within the diocese as he begins his time as Bishop. We look forward to welcoming Bishop Ken when he visits Stanthorpe in the future. 

Parents and caregivers should have received, via the Sentral Parent portal, a link from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office in relation to a survey, titled Shaping our future. See below a message from TCS: 

Every two years we ask staff, parents and students in our schools to share their views, to 'check in' on how each school within our community, and as a group of 31 schools in our Diocese, we are bringing to life our purpose: to enable full and flourishing lives. We do this by asking each of you as parents to complete a perception survey. The Shaping our future-Toowoomba Catholic Schools perception survey was sent via the Sentral Parent Portal on Monday 17th July.  

We encourage all of our parents to share their views in the Shaping our future – perception survey. This survey is being completed by parents, staff and students from all 31 schools from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools’ community.  This 15 minute survey closes on Sunday, 6 August, 2023.   

Your input in this survey will be highly valued and play an integral role in shaping the future of schools in the Toowoomba Diocese. 

The SJS Arts festival commences July 21^st, with the performances occurring on July 25^th in the Bathersby centre. Please see details of the fantastic event in this newsletter. 

Call to be… Christ-Like 

Called to live… Mercy 

Matthew Brown
Acting Principal