From the Principal – Issue #2, 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

The first fortnight of the school year is full of new experiences for staff, students and their families. Settling into the school routine is a significant time of transition, especially for families with children starting Reception or Year 7, as well as all those students who have joined the College at other year levels in 2025. We have welcomed over 150 new students to the College in the last two weeks, and we look forward to seeing them flourish here at SAC.

Visiting classes from Reception to Year 12, students and staff are building relationships and gaining confidence in navigating the school environment. I am always amazed at how quickly the Reception students settle in, thanks to the excellent care provided by teachers and support staff. Thanks also to our families, who cultivate that confidence at home, reassuring the girls that they will feel a strong sense of connection and belonging.

Thanks to the many parents who came along to meet the teachers in the last fortnight. Good communication begins with putting a face to a name and we hope that you found these brief conversations helpful. They will be supplemented with more detailed meetings throughout the year with a focus on student learning and wellbeing. The collaboration between parents and teachers is an essential part of an excellent education.

Our Opening Mass at the Cathedral last Friday was a fitting way to start the school year. Centred around the Jubilee year theme, Pilgrims of Hope, students brought their own hopes for the year to the Mass on posters they had created in their Religious Education lessons. Father James McEvoy celebrated Mass, the choir led us in song and there was a tangible sense of celebration. This theme reminds us that we are educating young people for a future where good things will happen, and that we have the privilege of walking together with them on this journey.

Educational experience is so much more about the journey than the destination, given that learning is lifelong. This came home to me as I watched the Reception students prepare beautiful bookmarks and a heartfelt video to send good wishes to the Year 12 students in their final year of school. I have watched the current cohort of Year 12s since they were in Reception, and whilst they look very different from their first year at SAC, their character is in essence the same. The continuity of care that we can provide in a Reception to Year 12 setting is a gift, and it is a joy to share that gift with the students and families of the Class of 2025.

With best wishes,

Ms Paddy McEvoy
Principal

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