PRINCIPALS REPORT
Feast Day of St Mother Teresa of Calcutta - Friday 5th September
I heard a priest speak about Mother Teresa today and he said that Mother Teresa, reminded us that not all poverty is being hungry, naked, and homeless. “One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty." There are so many in our communities who feel this sense of loneliness and isolation, particularly our elderly. For those of us with strong friendship and family connections, these are truly riches that no money can buy! We would always hope that the John Therry community provides this support and connection for our students, and the importance of good relationship is one of the great gifts at the heart of our faith. I regularly say to students that there is nothing more important than the way they treat others, and that people will always remember how you treat them.
May we all look to Mother Teresa for inspiration today and, following the example of Jesus, aim to be a person of love and friendship to those we encounter.
P & F Meeting - Tuesday 9th September 2025
We invite our parents and carers to join us for the P & F meeting on Tuesday night commencing at 6:30pm in the staff common room. We have a guest presentation from our catholic care counsellors on Understanding and managing anxiety and Talking about mental health. We will also provide an update on the Master Plan and look forward to any feedback and suggestions that parents may have. We hope to see you there.
Attendance Update
57% attendance level means that 625 of our 1092 students have an attendance rate of over 90%.
On average, student attendance sits at 88%. Our goal is 90% in 2025 and we are hoping that after the flu season comes to a close, we will get back closer to 90% to finish the year. This still means the average student is missing 4 weeks of school per year which is a significant amount of learning time lost, and we will aim to continually improve.
It was a pleasure to attend the Creative Arts HSC Showcase this week. I am always amazed and inspired by the gifts and talents of our students, and the enormous time and effort they put into their major works. This is always so well supported by their teachers and I am forever grateful, as I know the students and families are, for their time and commitment to supporting students through this process. The sense of pride that comes with doing something so difficult and challenging is a great life lesson, and I congratulate each and every student on this achievement.
I thank all of the fathers, grand fathers, family and friends that attended our fathers day breakfast this morning. It was a beautiful morning and lovely to gather as a community and acknowledge the important roles that our Dad's play. We will have some photos to follow in our next newsletter. We keep in our hearts those no longer with us and give thanks for the time that we were lucky to share. Wishing all of our Fathers, and those in fatherly roles, a very happy fathers day on Sunday.