On Monday night I had the pleasure of attending the Presentation Evening for the Catholic College Bendigo Energy Breakthrough Teams. The riders and support crew from Yrs 7 – 12 were presented with their team shirts and each team performed their 20 minute talk which will be delivered to the judges at Maryborough on Friday before the 24hr race begins on Saturday. It was quite clear that these students have done an enormous amount of work over the last 8 months. The task of preparing physically for a 24hr ride is enough on its own. However, these students have designed and built their trikes, gained sponsorship, studied about environmental issues and prepared excellent talks. Congratulations to all the students, staff and parents. We wish you well for the big race this weekend.
Year 9 Mass
On 30 November we will celebrate our Year 9 Thanksgiving Mass. The venue for this Mass will now be the Sacred Heart Cathedral and Bishop Joseph Grech will be the chief celebrant. The Mass will celebrate the halfway mark of the six year journey for our "Class of 2012". I hope that all our Year 9 families are present at this celebration. The Heads of House from Coolock will be present and shall then lead the orientation day at Coolock on the following day.
Teaching Staff Movements
In this newsletter I have listed the teaching staff members who are leaving Catholic College Bendigo at the end of this year. We wish all these staff the best in their future endeavours. I would particularly like to mention Dr Margaret Watts and Mr Doug Dixon (both retiring), Mr Ian McArthur (moving to the CEO) and Ms Carole Thornton (moving to Notre Dame College). These four staff members leave us after many years of service. I would also like to congratulate Mr John O’Connor who will leave us to take up the position of Principal of St. Mary’s Primary School, Inglewood. I have also listed the new teaching staff members who will join us at the beginning of 2010. We are close to finalising staffing positions for next year. It is an enormous task to place our staff in what we see as the best fit for providing the best education for our young people. I would like to thank the Leadership Team and Domain Coordinators for all their work in assisting me to finalise this vital aspect of our College.
Bushfire Preparation
We are currently finalising our preparation for responding to the threat of bushfires. On page three of this newsletter I have included a summary of the current situation. This has been developed in consultation with the CFA, State Government and Catholic Education Commission of Victoria.
Quizzing Jesus
This Sunday we shall hear the Gospel account of the conversation between Pontius Pilate and Jesus. It is the beginning of Jesus’ trial and Pilate is searching for answers from Jesus. This conversation is often dismissed as a legal inquisition but I believe it is much more than this. Pilate seems to be genuinely trying to figure out who Jesus was and what his teaching's meant. I sometimes wish I had the opportunity to interview Jesus like Pilate did. If you had 10 minutes to ask Jesus something then what would you ask?
Let us live the Good News Mr Darren McGregor Principal
Dear parents, students & staff