LATEST LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY - 9 APRIL

This afternoon a joint-letter from Catholic Education Wollongong’s Director Mr Peter Hill and myself will be sent to the community to provide: (i) an overview of supports provided by both the Diocese and the College, and (ii) a brief update on plans for Term Two. I encourage you to read this.

THANK YOU

Once again, I thank our parents and carers and our student body for their tremendous support, encouragement and understanding during these trying times in which we live.

As one of my recent letters indicated, one of our own staff members, Mr Steve Bayliss was struck down by coronavirus only recently so we know that, while he posed no threat to our College community, this can be a very dangerous, painful and potentially life-threatening illness. The good news is that he is now out of hospital, but we do encourage your positive thoughts and prayers.

Obviously, COVID-19 came out of nowhere and has considerably impacted families within and beyond the Magdalene community. Its economic and social implications could last for years and we are aware of many in the community who have already been adversely affected. I once again encourage you to reach out to the College if you require Pastoral and/or fee assistance.

ONLINE LEARNING AND WELLBEING HUB

In terms of learning, the good news is that many of our staff have been working with a range of Information Technologies for years so collectively we are in a very good starting position to make the most of remote learning. This stated, we want your feedback. Our goal is to make our remote learning as meaningful as possible whilst also maintaining engagement and  social connections.

To this end, a new online College ‘Wellbeing Hub’ is just about to be released. Look out for communications from our Pastoral Care Coordinator, Mrs Ivana Forner. Various links for support will be provided and clear details about how our students can seek out online counselling will be included.

In the meantime, I include the following graphic which may be of use to helping us during the coming weeks. It’s entitled: “The Coping Calendar” and is aimed at us all keeping calm, staying wise and kind. It can be freely shared.

Interestingly, some of our students are very much enjoying their current learning independence in the present remote delivery of subject content, whereas other students are greatly missing school. Regardless, we all hope that the current COVID-19 situation can improve, and that we can return to greater routine and normality.

VISUAL ARTS ONLINE

The Visual Arts Faculty have recently created an online platform to showcase the amazing talents of our Magdalene students.

With students and staff currently remotely learning and teaching, they now don't have the luxury of pinning up work on the display boards or in the office space. Therefore, I commend the Faculty on being proactive and keeping alive the ‘buzz’ that our students feel when they see their work on show.

I  therefore encourage you to check out  the following link: https://sites.google.com/dow.catholic.edu.au/mccvirtualgallery/home

Obviously, it will be a work in progress over the coming weeks as the faculty gradually includes more and more pieces.

PRAYER

This week I have included two prayers. One is from Pope Francis seeking protection for us from coronavirus and the second relates to us moving into the events of the Last Supper, the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection.

EASTER WEEK: Of course, this time of year is most relevant to us here at Magdalene, not only because of the messages of redemption, forgiveness and Christ’s message of eternal love, but also due to Mary Magdalene’s close connection with all of the events surrounding Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.

I wish you all a safe, happy and holy Easter Break and I include here a beautiful prayer from Catholic Relief Services USA entitled: ‘Break open the Tomb’.