From the College Principal

Newsletter 14 2023

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

As our Year 12 students receive their feedback on the Trial HSC Examinations and Major Works we move into Year 11 Exams and preparation for summative tasks in Years 7-10. We also move towards Year 12 Graduation and our Student Leadership Elections for 2024. Our Year 12 2024 student leaders travelled to Gerringong for two days of their formation and have responded well to the challenges posed to them. I look forward to seeing the fruits of their time away when they lead the other student leaders in Term 4 at Kiah Ridge. An essential part of any successful school climate in student leadership and we are seeing that grow in recent years. Congratulations to all involved in the CAPA Major Works Evening. It is so pleasing to see the pride and effort that goes into our Major Works as well as the learning that comes from the process.

It’s All About Learning

Gospel Reflection: Matthew 16:13-19

Gospel Reflection: You are Christ, the son of the living God

Who do say that the Son of Man is?

When Peter gave an answer to this question that He is the Christ, Jesus congratulated Him as blessed because His heavenly Father revealed such an awesome knowledge to him.

Today, this is a question that is directed to you and me. Yes, we may have heard about Jesus from many sources. Personally, do we really know who He is in our own life?

Unless the Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit reveals the answer to us, we may just utter some dry definitions of Jesus that we read from books or learned from school. For it is only when we have a personal relationship with the divine that we can give a heart-felt answer to the profound question.

Of course, our definitions may be theologically correct but what is important is our experience of the saving power of the Lord in our life. Only when we have that intimate bond with Him can we truly say who the Son of Man is. This knowledge of Him is a gift from above. When we receive it, we become a living witness of and for the Church that is His Body and the gates of Hell can never prevail against us.

May we grow and be blessed in divine knowledge by allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the answer to many questions in our life. Amen.

Australian Catholic University Step Up Program:

Congratulations to the following Year 11 students have been made an offer into the ACU Uni Step Up program. This is a great opportunity for any aspiring student. The College had a 100% acceptance rate as well which is very hard to achieve.

Nicole Cabale - Business, Alyssa Guillermo - Criminology, Geoffrey Francisco - Nursing and Midwifery, Naomi Girgis - Nursing and Midwifery

F1 Representation:

Congratulations to all the students who represented the College in our first external competition in the F1 domain. Ms Serbin has been putting in a great deal of her time and effort to get the team prepared and the students have been stepping up in support. We are looking to expand the scope of students involved in F1 in 2024 as we look to move to State and National representation.

PDSSSC Athletics Representatives:

Congratulations to all the students who are representing the College at the PDSSSC Athletics Carnival next Monday. Thank you for the effort that you will put in representing yourself, your family and our school.

Building Works:

The Hall has now been completed on the outside so we move into the inside where we will shortly commence work on the insulation and sheeting to complete the work combined with an upgrade to the electrical connections and additional televisions (already installed). It will be a wonderful air-conditioned facility when we finish for a variety of activities such as Assemblies, Sport, PDHPE classes and Information Evenings.

‘It’s All About Learning’

Fidem in Christo

Dr Stephen Kennaugh
Principal