Principal’s blog – 27 October 2022

Dear parents, students and staff

Last weekend there was a 10-year and 20-year reunion of SFX students held at separate venues in Canberra. To kick off the reunions, a group from each graduating class met at SFX for a ‘walk down memory lane’ to reminisce. It was wonderful to see the smiling faces and recollections of memorable incidents and staff who had a significant impression on them through their high school years. The older group especially were amazed at the physical changes of the College since they have left as much has changed. Unfortunately, we didn’t attract any significant alumni donations for a new classroom block over the weekend but were hopeful that may be forthcoming in due course!

The significant reduction of COVID-19 rules, the lessening of staff falling sick with the onset of the warmer weather and a slight increase in the availability of relief staff since the return to school this term has eased sufficiently for SFX to discontinue the independent learning schedule from 31 October 2022. All Years 7-10 classes will resume on site from Monday. We predict there will be occasions when independent learning or combined classes may still occur at school in the remaining weeks as the shortage of relief staff is critical as you have heard in media outlets. I thank the community for their patience and support of the measures taken to ensure the College remained out of the remote learning environment.

The College introduced this year a new software program called Compass that is used for roll marking, student information and the timetable. There is a Parent Portal that we are planning to roll out in the remaining weeks of Term 4 to test-run it in readiness for the start of next year. We will progressively release modules within Parent Portal to ensure there is every chance of success and to ensure quality control of the system.

There was a major amount of work completed over the school holidays that are worth noting. The hail damage from the January storm is still ongoing and the builders replaced the roof over the Year 10 locker ay and surrounding areas. Painting occurred in 2 staffrooms, 4 Science labs and student kitchens; new carpet was laid in nine of the B-block classrooms; tag and testing of nearly every electrical item;  new student desks in four Science labs. A huge undertaking and a big thank you to the tradespeople and SFX staff helping manage the works.

We are praying for great weather for SFX Day on Friday 4 November. It is a very special event as we celebrate our wonderful community. The day will begin with a reflective liturgy before the students enjoy the various stalls that each homegroup has prepared. The day will conclude with the ‘Battle of the Bands’ which is a long-standing school tradition.

With best wishes

Paul Carroll

Principal