iServi News | 1 November 2019 | Term 4, Week 3
Fr Liam Mackle OSM
This week the Servite Friars celebrated the life of Fr Liam Mackle who passed away last week. In a beautiful Mass held at St Denis Parish and concelebrated by more than 20 priests, Fr Liam was remembered for the terrific impact that he had on the Order and of course on the College.
As recently highlighted, Fr Liam was a previous Principal of the College and was instrumental in establishing the current day school we celebrate today. His vision and innovation saw Servite become the first coeducational Catholic school in Western Australia. His vision to provide an inclusive education for all is very much in evidence within our flourishing school of today.
Fr Liam’s capacity to support the needs of the students and families through genuine and heartfelt actions exemplified the Servite call to serve. He modelled what it meant to look out to the needs of others in a humble yet unrelenting way.
It was wonderful to see so many past students, teachers, friends and family members gather together to celebrate the life of Fr Liam. We continue to keep them, along with our Servite Friars very much in our prayers.
Year 12 WACE Exams
Our Year 12 ATAR students commenced their formal WACE exams on Wednesday this week. It was pleasing to see so many dedicated students take full advantage of the revision seminars that ran at the College in the lead up to the exam period. We received some very positive feedback from the tutors who acknowledged the preparedness of our students and their dedicated work ethic, along with their excellent manners and hospitality.
Our students are therefore very well prepared to tackle the rigours of their exam schedule. We know that they will give of their best and we encourage them to continue to seek out support from teachers at the College whenever required. This offer extends of course to well after the exam period concludes with our Pathway team being readily available to provide guidance and assistance to students as they transition into their preferred post school pathway.
Our Year 12 students provide good example to our Year 11s as they approach their end of year exam period. Our Year 12 students have shown that there are no short cuts to success and that rigour, self-regulation and resilience are key ingredients to achieving to capacity. As is the adoption of a growth mindset and being focused on exploring gaps in one’s learning and seeking quality ongoing feedback from teachers. We want our students to take control of their own learning and to be unrelenting in looking for avenues of growth in whatever their chosen pathway or course.
Year 10 Retreat
Congratulations to our Year 10s for their support of our newly developed Retreat programme that ran this week.
The week was designed to support students exploring future options and to highlight the importance of them making quality informed choices when looking forward. We challenged students to adjust their focus to look ahead and consider their approach and the decisions that they would need to make to fully harness the options available at the school to enhance their future success and overall fulfilment.
We are grateful to staff for their efforts in designing and running the programme over the week, and again to the students for their genuine interest and involvement.
Inclusive Sport Carnival
It was a real thrill to see the full involvement of our students at the ACC Inclusive Sports Carnival held at John XXIII College on Friday this week. Students had the opportunity to experience a range of different sports, from ten pin bowling to rowing, from basketball through to cricket, just to name a few.
We are very grateful to the students for the very positive way that they represented the College and also to the staff for their wonderful support as always of our students.
Long Service Leave
I would like to inform our community that I will be away on Long Service Leave for the remainder of the year. Mrs Franca Coutts will be Acting Principal in my absence.
Can I wish our families all of the very best for the remainder of the year and also an enjoyable break over Christmas.
Mr Jeff Allen
Principal