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Dear Parents/Carers,
TRAGEDY HITS ST JOSEPH’S TENARU COMMUNITY
The community at St Joseph’s College Tenaru (Solomon Islands) is well known to many members of our College as each year a group of staff and students visit as part of our immersion program. Trinity Catholic College later in the year hosts a group of students and staff from St Joseph’s.
Late last week Cyclone Harold wrought havoc in Melanesia. As a result of the cyclonic weather conditions, a tragedy occurred over the weekend which has directly involved members of our Marist family. The Deputy Principal of St Joseph’s Tenaru, Abraham Haiuasi, and members of his immediate family were travelling to Malaita by boat, when it was hit by a storm surge. In the panic and fear, 28 people were swept overboard; few have been found alive. Among the victims are Abraham’s wife, Rita, their three sons and Abraham’s brother, Godfrey Waronitepe, who is also a teacher at St Joseph’s.
Br Peter Carroll has written to all Marist Communities and has asked that “In the face of these tragedies I ask you to stand in silent, prayerful solidarity with the people of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Abraham and the extended Haiuasi family. I have asked Br Jean-Marie to extend our support and assurance of prayers to Abraham and the Tenaru school community.”
I also ask that you too keep all people affected by the recent cyclone and Abraham in particular in our thoughts and prayers.
TERM 2 ARRANGEMENTS
Term 2 will commence with the current arrangements in place. The College will be open and will provide supervision for the children of those parents have no alternative source of supervision and their ongoing employment is reliant upon their child (ren) attending school. All other students, as per the Premier’s previous recommendation, are to be kept at home.
ST JOSEPH’S SITE RECEPTION
Please be aware that the St Joseph's site reception is now the only front office that is open to the public. The St Mary's site (SMS) reception will be closed.
The main switchboard telephone number will remain as 6627 6600.
If you need to contact the Finance Office please phone the main switchboard to make an appointment.
Please continue to use the mail box after hours located beside the front doors on SMS as this will be cleared daily. During office hours (8 am to 4 pm) mail can be delivered to St Joseph's site office.
ICT SUPPORT
If there is a need for ICT assistance, simply email ictsupport@trinitylismore.nsw.edu.au This address is monitored and help will be provided where it can. It may not be possible for the ICT Department to ‘fix’ every problem as they are not physically present to diagnose the specific problem. They will do the best that they can, under the circumstances. If the issue is a hardware issue, I would encourage you to contact your place of purchase for assistance.
ENROLMENTS / FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
I am conscious of the difficult circumstances many of you may now be facing as a result of the growing list of COVID-19 restrictions. Some of your employers may have had to shut or you are in small businesses. I have heard first hand from a number of our current parents of the difficulties they are facing.
Please be assured that Trinity Catholic College will do what we can to support all our local families at this time. No child should ever miss out on a Catholic Education because of financial stress. Trinity Catholic College has a long tradition of assisting families in need and I am serious when I say we will do all we can to assist families seeking to enrol their child at the College.
Enrolments for 2021 are currently being accepted – application forms can be obtained by ringing 66276647, downloaded from the College Web Site or by emailing enrolments@trinitylismore.nsw.edu.au
I would ask that you encourage anyone you are aware of who is looking to apply to enrol their child in 2021 to do so. I ask that you tell anyone you know is thinking of sending their child to the College that we are always open to discussing financial circumstances and don’t let these prevent them applying.
Take care and may God bless us all in this very difficult time for our country and the world.
Brother John Hilet, fms
Dear Members of the Trinity Community,
TERM 2 PREPARATION
Term 2 planning is well underway here at the College. The student and parent experience of the past three weeks has generated a lot of feedback for us to process. The key themes centre upon:
- The volume of work;
- The pace at which students are to work;
- How the learning is delivered;
- The clarity of instructions for students;
- The accessibility of learning activities;
- The role of Zoom video conferencing in the learning cycle; and
- The level of student engagement.
In Term 2, our focus will be the consistent delivery of learning activities through Lighthouse Due Work. The delivery plan should see learning activities 'chunked' and published at the beginning of the week. Students will then work at their own pace through the activities and submit evidence of their progress at the end of the timeframe published (usually a week, with a desire to stagger submission deadlines). The use of some Zoom video conferences will occur across all year levels. We do not want students, however, to be attending no-stop Zoom conferences each day of the Term. A balance will be required and we will need to work hard to find that balance.
I thank you for your continued patience and understanding at this challenging time.
UPDATE ON THE HSCE FROM PROFESSOR PETER SHERGOLD
HSC ADVICE AND UPDATES
The latest NESA advice is here - updated 7 April. The NESA COVID19 Response Committee met again today. The link above contains updated information released by NESA. The Education Council released this communique today.
YEAR 7-12 INTERIM REPORTS
Interim Reports will be issued to parents/carers this week via the online parent portal. Please ensure you have your login details. If you have issues logging in to Lighthouse that persist after resetting your password, please email parentportal@trinitylismore.nsw.edu.au so we can arrange access for you.
Take good care,
Jesse Smith - Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching
Dear members of the Trinity Community,
One day to go until the official end of Term. I hope and pray that each of you are managing, as I’m sure you are the best you can.
The College will remain open in Term 2 in a similar fashion to the present time, though somewhat reduced. I encourage all members to take the holiday period to seek some rest, rejuvenation and replenishment. From the College’s perspective, there is hopefully a window for our students to have a rest from online learning and seek some wholesome self-care.
Today’s resources come from the Black Dog Institute and you might find something of use or interest.
I wish you all the best; take care and God bless,
Mr Travis Lyon - Acting Assistant Principal - Students & Staff
Religious Education and Mission Update
Dear Parents/Carers,
Holy Week culminates in the Easter Triduum. This is the three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Holy Thursday (the Last Supper), Good Friday (the Crucifixion) and reaches its high point on Easter Sunday (the Resurrection). This is a special time on the Christian calendar that is observed across the globe. This year we find ourselves in the unthinkable situation that our churches are closed and we are asked to remain home.
These are challenging times and we are called to be people of hope. The call for us all is to engage with one another in new ways, to listen to each other, to open our minds and hearts and to look out for one another. We can use this time of stillness as a moment of grace to deepen our own spiritual life and focus on what is at the centre of our life and reflect on Jesus' message of Love of self and of neighbour.
I have attached three resources that may help us to slow down and help us to reflect on the message of Easter and what it says to us in these uncertain times.
I wish you all a Happy Easter.
Stay safe.
Mr Tom Gahan - Assistant Principal - Religious Education & Mission
(These reflections are taken from Marist Canberra and sources include; Our Sunday Visitor, Crosswalk, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)