PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
When 9 out of 10 is not good enough
90% on most assessment tasks would be a wonderful result, yet when we look at attendance and punctuality, this often doesn't quite cut it. Most employers would struggle to work with an employee who missed one day every fortnight, and turning up slightly late each day might be even more problematic.
Attendance and punctuality is an area we have identified as having lots of room for improvement at John Therry, and we are keen to ensure we instill good habits and values around the importance of attendance. We know that COVID has impacted attendance in most schools, and has meant that having symptoms of a cold or flu now means we need to stay away from school when previously we might have attended. The attendance issues at John Therry appear to be a bit broader than this.
Attendance 2022
Missing 1 day per fortnight adds up to over 2 terms of missed learning from Year 7 to 12. Missing 1 day per week adds up to missing over a whole year of schooling from Year 7 to 12.
This obviously has a significant impact on student learning and achievement, and is something we will continue to focus on this year.
Open Day - Year 7 2024
The John Therry Open Day was held on Saturday 25th February and was very well attended once again. We gave out approximately 240 applications for 180 places so it appears we will have some difficult decisions again offering places for 2024. Applications close on the 31st April and applications received after this date will go onto a waitlist if we have more applications than places. Interview will take place in early term 2.
Some images below of the set up for Open Day.
Lent and Project Compassion
We celebrated Ash Wednesday liturgies on Wednesday 22nd February, distributing ashes and marking the commencement of Lent as a College community. During Lent we are challenged to reflect in prayer, fast and give alms. This is a call to us as christians to follow Jesus more faithfully. The call to fast is a way to practice self discipliine and be grateful for what we have, and giving alms is more than just donating money, but also looking at how we can use our gifts and talents in the service for others.
Thank you to Ms Screppis, Angar and Tiana for joining me at the Project Compassion launch with Bishop Brian on Tuesday 21st February.