This week, we ran the student leadership camp with our new Year 11 leaders. It was a privilege to spend a few hours with the girls, to hear of their dreams and share with them what leadership looks like in a Benedictine community. I am confident they will be an exceptional team and will take up the baton that Tavara and her team have held so well through this last year. We wish them the very best.

Last week a few of the College leadership and management teams and our Directors, in addition to our College Board Chair Mr Paul Colyer, attended the Good Samaritan Education Conference held in Sydney. Representatives from all the Good Samaritan Colleges across Australia were present. Keynote addresses by Bishop Vincent Long, Fr David Ranson and Aboriginal Christian leader, Brooke Prentis, inspired and enriched us over the weekend. The outstanding part of the conference was the presentation made by students from each of the Colleges. Our Year 11 girls Monique R, Millie E, Kaleena H and Charlotte T did a wonderful job in putting forward a project which would see the creation of a picture book which represents an opportunity to effect reconciliation and the promotion of stewardship, peace and hospitality. I must congratulate the girls in the passion they applied to their work and the maturity they demonstrated in delivering their project to many delegates at the conference. Over the coming weeks, we will share this work with the rest of the community. The girls were outstanding.

Life in and around the College is beginning to return to pre-COVID times. We hosted our Year 9 2023 information night face-to-face and the girls are engaging in a number of activities now with other schools that previously was considered too risky. Unfortunately, the numbers of deaths due to COVID and the numbers who have contracted it and find themselves in intensive care continue to be alarming, yet the transactions and interactions of people in the broader community would suggest that COVID is behind us. The health advice is that it continues to be a source of concern and that precautions need to be taken by families. Staff will continue to wear masks at the College and, for now, we have moved staff across the offices and meeting spaces at the College. Transmission rates across the College have been relatively low, which we like to think is due in part to the precautions we have used. We will continue to welcome back, cautiously, the events and activities we have loved over the years, so that we can all enjoy and participate without unduly placing people at risk of becoming ill.

The next exciting event for the community is the return of the Father Daughter Dance. Scheduled for Friday 2 September, it will be a great night. The caterers are booked, the band is booked, and they have reassured us that girls will only be dancing with their fathers on the night, which means no progressives barn dances. I hope you will be able to join us. Please book through trybooking, www.trybooking.com/CBLNJ

Next Tuesday, 16 August, we will be hosting the Alumni AGM. The meeting begins at 7pm in H11. If you are an ex-student or know of an ex-student who would like to give back to the College, I urge you to join us for the meeting. We need a number of positions to be filled so it would be wonderful to have you connect with us in this way.

Finally, as you know, the girls at the College are exceptional. They are respectful, kind, hard working and inclusive. It is always wonderful when we hear of their successes and triumphs, and we are able to acknowledge their achievements to the rest of the community. I would like to encourage you to read through this edition to see the wonderful achievements of a number of our girls.

I will leave you with the prayer for Mary we are all familiar with as we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption on Monday 15 August.

Blessings

Sue Lennox -  Principal

Hail Mary full of Grace
the Lord is with you,
blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God
pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of death.
Amen.