At this time of the year there are many things to celebrate

• The hard work, diligence and values recognised at our recent Awards night
• Year 9 Rites of Passage Day on this Friday
• Loads of great assessments – while that may sound strange – a great deal of the assessed work has been fun and of a high quality. From the Bridges and Crash Test cars made in Design Tech to the Year 7 Tourism brochures and the Year 9s highly entertaining, ‘Story of my Life’ presentations!
• The Roman Feasts that the Year 7 students enjoyed over the past few days
• The Alternate Week program coming up with many and varied activities from Green Globs (Maths Activities), Survivor on the Moon, Dance and Drama workshops, an Agricultural experience, Bike Riding to Tibrogargan, Random Acts of Kindness opportunities … to name a few.
• Year 9 Celebration Dinner next Thursday evening. How wonderful to see our young ladies and gentlemen ready to launch into Senior School.

What do I need to know for the start of next year for my child in Middle School?

• Uniforms, Laptops and texts can be picked up in the Administration Days from January 17 – 19.  Please remember to book a time for this.
• All students start back on Monday 23 January
• On the first day, students will be directed at 8:30am to the church for an Introductory Assembly followed by Pastoral Care Lessons to organise timetables etc. Then into their regular timetabled lessons after 1st break.
• All other relevant information is on the booklist and attached letter that was sent home a few weeks ago.
• Please feel free to email your child’s relevant Year Level Coordinator for 2017 regarding any specific requests or concerns.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you – our parents and wider community members – for your involvement and support of all our teachers and staff throughout this year. We consider it a privilege to work with your children.

I pray that you have an opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Saviour with your families and children in this season. Christmas all those years ago was an example of – a huge inconvenience for all of those present and God’s perfect timing in lining up all the elements required for the birth of his son – a census, an overly pregnant woman having to travel a great distance and then no room for her, some wise men who made the decision to travel for many months to investigate their hunch… the list goes on. For all of us we can take heart that God has placed all of these messy inconvenient things in our life exactly for his plan and purposes for each of us.  As we read in these words given to Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God” (Luke 1:30), we can know for sure that we have also found favour with God.

Jacqualina Vreeling, Head of Middle School