From the College Principal

Newsletter 17 2024

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

Congratulations on a solid start to Term 4. Our Year 12 students have begun their Higher School Certificate Examinations well, our Year 11 students are stepping up and are leading the College, with our Year 7-10 students responding positively to their final Term. Auditions and rehearsals have started in earnest for CAN, while our Basketball and Football teams are doing very well. Already being the end of Week 2 now we often make the mistake of wishing the Term goes quickly as we look forward to greeting Christmas. My challenge to the community is to be present in the moment. Be reminded of your successes and celebrate the challenges you face. We often learn more from our challenges and disappointments than our successes.

Bible Reading Reflections: 

The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B highlights God’s love and mercy. The Mass readings for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B focus on the theme of spiritual blindness and how Jesus can give us new vision. The first reading speaks of God gathering and healing His people, while the Gospel recounts the healing of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. These readings prompt us to reflect on sight, healing, prayer, courage, faith, and the power of Jesus’ call in our lives. The readings show how God listens to our cries and heals our brokenness. Here are some themes for this Sunday:

• God’s Restoration: God promises to bring back His people and heal their wounds. In Jeremiah, God gathers His people from exile.
• Compassionate Priesthood: Hebrews speaks of the high priest who understands our weaknesses. Jesus, our High Priest, is compassionate and merciful.
• Faith and Healing: In the Gospel, Bartimaeus shows great faith. Jesus heals him because of his faith.
• Call to Repentance: Jeremiah calls the people to return to God. God wants to restore and forgive.
• Jesus’ Compassion: Jesus stops to help Bartimaeus despite the crowd. His mercy is shown in action.
• Trust in God: Bartimaeus trusts Jesus completely. He believes Jesus can heal him.
• Joyful Return: Jeremiah talks about a joyful return to the Promised Land. God’s people find joy in His promises.

The 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B reminds us of God’s love and mercy. The readings show that God hears us and wants to heal and restore us.

Early Offers Macquarie University:

26 students ranging from Education and Medical Science to Psychology and Engineering. Congratulations to all the students for the effort they put into receiving these offers.

Year 7 Step Up and Orientation:

Thank you to all the staff who facilitated so well the Step Up Program for our Year 7 2025 students. Looking at the faces and responses of the students they had a great day. We are looking forward to having the whole cohort here on Monday. Thank you to the year 9 students who are training for our Peer Support Program and will be assisting Monday.

Congratulations to Cooper Ison (Year 12):

Congratulations to Cooper who represented Australia in the 93kg sub-junior category at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in South Africa during the school holiday period. He performed exceptionally to place third in the Commonwealth overall. His individual results were.  SQUAT 210kg - Bronze, BENCH 137.5kg - 4th place, DEADLIFT 272.5kg (PB) - Gold. We are very proud of you Cooper.

Fidem in Christo

Dr Stephen Kennaugh
Principal