News

Lenten Season and Project Compassion – Awareness is great. Action is better!

Our community is developing a range of communal actions during the Lenten season to bring about change in our world. Fundraising throughout the six weeks of Lent will contribute to Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign “For a Just Future.”  It throws a spotlight on our global challenge and how our aspiration for true justice can transform lives.  We are encouraged during Lent to move beyond awareness, and take action that will change us, others and the world around us. 

Project Compassion Prayer for Justice

God of strength,

May your constant presence give us the courage to raise awareness for injustices in our world.

Allow us the strength to act on these injustices to make the world a better place for those around us.

We ask this through our guiding light for action on justice, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Adam Bennie

Clean Up Australian Schools Day 2018

Thank you to the community, under the passionate leadership of Tom Linnell, for supporting Clean Up Australian Schools Day 2018.

Thank you to the students, staff and parents for your support of this significant day, which not only teaches our young about the importance of caring for our planet, but also underlines the importance of individual action to support the larger communal endeavour.

So once again on this important day we put our hand up to assist ourselves, our community, and our planet. Thank you!  

Board Annual General Meeting

I remind parents and caregivers of the Annual General Meeting of the Tenison Woods College Board, which will be held on Wednesday 28 March at 7:30pm in the Pam Ronan Centre.  Nominations are sought for people interested in serving on the Board this year. The associated correspondence has been forwarded to families by email.

The AGM follows our annual Twilight Tour which will take place from 6.00pm on Wednesday 28 March.

Community Feedback Greatly Appreciated

Late last year families were asked to complete our annual Satisfaction Survey and then recently this year parents were asked to complete a Communication Survey. Thank you to the many people who took the time to offer their thoughts about how they have experienced the College. This feedback is critical to us. It assists us in developing our strategies, policies and processes going forward as a community committed to the highest quality service and commitment to our families. 

Master Planning and our College into the Future

The College Board and Staff are currently developing a Master Plan and Structural approach to the school community that will greet the future with confidence and contemporary resources. This will be shared with the community as appropriate in due course. The College community is also embracing the aspirations and thinking behind Catholic Education South Australia’s resolution that Year 7 students will form part of the Secondary School environment. However, at Tenison Woods College we have a Middle School (Year 6-9) structure and the Year 7 students are part of that structure currently.  We see this approach as serving students appropriately with specialised Middle Schooling pedagogy and experiences. Any potential changes to our structure in the future will occur as our planning, resourcing and community discernment facilitates through our Master Planning Process. Watch this space!

Fair Funding for Catholic Schools

As we head towards a State Election, I ask all parents to query each candidate and political party on how they see the issue of funding to support our Catholic schools.

Until recently – Catholic schools in South Australia received the lowest level of funding in the country.  In November, the State Government announced that it would increase recurrent funding to our schools. This equates to a $14.3 million increase in 2018 and brings us into much closer alignment with the amount Catholic schools receive in other parts of the country. The State Government also announced a capital grant of $5.5 million indexed annually to CPI.

While this is good news and addresses in some way a history of poor state funding for Catholic Schools,  there is much more that can be done to ensure our schools receive adequate support. Please read more here.

OSHC – Care, Fun and Learning

Sarah Seebohm and her committed Out of School Hours Care team are offering a fun, caring and professional before and after school program for our community.

OSHC offers before school care for only $10 per child before the rebate is factored into the cost. OSHC before school care offers parents peace of mind in the morning, given that the school grounds are not formally supervised until 8:20am. For further information and bookings contact Aleisha or Sarah via email or on (08) 8724 4633. You can also visit the OSHC page on our website.

Parish Planned Giving Rebate

I remind families that parents contributing to the St Paul’s Planned Giving may claim a rebate from Tuition Fees of 50% of their contribution up to a maximum claim of $750. Official Parish receipts are to be presented to the Business Manager after the 30 June 2018 for a deduction to be made.

Enrolment of Students

I am very pleased to see that the College is experiencing significant demand in relation to enrolments. To assist with our medium and long term planning I encourage parents to lodge an enrolment form with the school as soon as they have made a decision to enrol their child at the school. For some families this decision is made very early in the newborn’s life and contacting the school at this time, no matter how early it may seem, will assist us to plan in the best possible way for your child’s experience of education in our College community.  Should you wish to discuss this further please contact our College Registrar, Tracey Davey via email or on 08) 8725 5455.

God Bless,

David Mezinec | Principal

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