Welcome back to all our families!  I want to thank Gavin Hicks and Kim Walters for acting in the role of Principal during my recovery from back surgery.  They retained the bulk of their existing roles and teaching loads, and I also thank Shelley Keightley who acted in the role of Deputy Principal to support them.  I am blessed to have such a competent team to support me in leading this fine school.

A quick COVID-19 Update for Term 2:

In line with the recommendations from Public Health, we are following the following protocols:

1. Household close contacts of a confirmed case are no longer required to quarantine at home. For a close contact to leave home they must:
   • not be symptomatic (must remain at home if they are).
   • return a negative test each day before leaving home for the 7 days following their last contact with the confirmed case.
   • wear a face mask in all indoor settings when outside the home.
   • notify the College of their close contact status.
   • if the person becomes symptomatic whilst in the workplace, they are to immediately return to their home.  
2. Face masks continue to be worn by staff, students, and visitors to the College.
3. Notifications:  Schools are no longer required to notify families on a case-by-case basis.  (I can share that we continue to monitor positive case numbers and these are very low - around 2% of our total school population).

 As previously stated please contact the school if you require rapid antigen tests (RATs).

Enrolment Interviews 2023

For those who have already enrolled, interviews will commence on 25 May and 22 June, and our Enrolment Registrar will contact those involved shortly.  On a tour, I was asked when the latest we would accept an application.  The reality is that we try to keep class sizes small.  If numbers indicate that we need to add an additional Core Class, I need to apply to the Catholic Education Commission Tasmania to go from five to six streams.  This application needs to be made well before the end of the Year, so we encourage applications to come in early to avoid missing out.

The Principalship of the College in 2023

The College's parents, students, and staff received this letter from the Executive Director of Catholic Education announcing my decision to retire at the end of this year.  The process for selecting a new Principal will now commence.

Stay safe and happy and I will keep us all in my prayers.

Frank Pisano

What a treat for our Physics students! A tour of the inner workings of the Spirit of Tasmania led by the Chief Engineer! We were able to see exactly how the Spirit is run and the complexity of systems required to ensure all aspects run smoothly, incorporating many aspects of Physics, including Waves, Motion, Electrodynamics, and Thermodynamics.

The best part of the tour was meeting Engineers who are passionate about what they do. Thanks to Mr Voorwinde for accompanying the class, Chief Engineer Jeremy Wescombe for organising our visit, and Chief Engineer Ty Cairns for leading a jam-packed tour.

At St Brendan-Shaw College, we have several students undertaking School-Based Apprenticeships across various industries. The program is an employment-based training arrangement where Year 10, 11, and 12 students have the opportunity to combine employment with training and school as apprentices or trainees. 

Ty Oliver is pictured below on his first day working at Joinery Products. Ty will be working towards completing a Certificate III in Cabinet making. 

Over the term break, our senior students were out in the "real world" for work experience in various occupations across the North West Coast.

Hairdressing, trades, and health professions were some of the career options investigated by the students. Work experience has allowed students to test drive a potential future career. It has added to their understanding of the education and training pathways necessary to make their career choices possible.

The experience inevitably results in students returning to school with a renewed appreciation of the value of their learning in preparation for their TCE years and beyond.

We received some fantastic feedback from the employers about our students; please read the comments below. 

"I could not have been happier with the student. I would offer him a job tomorrow if he applied for an apprenticeship! I have worked with many students over the years, and this student blew us all out of the water. He asked questions, showed initiative, and asked if tasks needed to be done. This student made such an impact in the short time he was there."

"This student was an exceptional work experience student. She displayed curiosity about every aspect of the business. She sought to find out why services existed and asked insightful questions. She quickly built relationships and easily gained parents' and children's trust. Her IT skills were exceptional, assisting employees with admin tasks and helping them to make their jobs easier! She followed instructions well. She was never still and is welcome back anytime!" 

We are very proud of how our students represented the college and we thank all the businesses who allowed our students this fantastic opportunity.

Thank you to our students and staff who gave their time today to attend the ANZAC Day ceremony. Thank you to College Captains Ruby and Meg who read the Lord's Prayer and a Scripture Reading, you both did a wonderful job. 

We have received a few enquiries regarding the date for our Year 10 Celebration Dinner. I can now confirm this will be held on Friday 2 September onsite at the college. This is a student-free day at SBSC, so Year 10 students will have the day to prepare. Further details will be provided closer to the date.

- Deputy Principal, Kim Walters.

The Jeweller’s Shop – A play written by St John Paul II – 12:30pm, May 15, Genesis Theatre, St Brendan Shaw College.

The play explores the hopes, fears, loves and longings of three couples. It is set outside the local jeweller’s shop and also in a mysterious inner landscape that delves into the nature of love, relationships and marriage. The Devonport performance will be at 12:30pm on May 15 at Genesis Theatre, St Brendan Shaw College. Tickets are on sale on Eventbrite at https://thejewellersshopdevonport.eventbrite.com.au for $15p.p. For more information please contact Ben Smith at ben.smith@aohtas.org.au or 6208 6036.

Please follow this link here to view the recent Mersey Leven Parish Newsletter.