Principal’s Update – 19 May 2022

Dear Parents and Carers

Re: Year 10 students – Friday 20 May: School Closure

Since the commencement of Term 2, the College has been juggling a reduced workforce as a result of COVID cases and the flu which is rampant across the College and community. We are pleased that up until now we have managed normal operations without any closures this term. We acknowledge the teaching staff have continued to be allocated additional classes to cover gaps and have been generous with their time.

However, we have exhausted all contingencies in an attempt to manage the staffing at St Mary’s this Friday. The College has consulted Mercy Education Ltd and Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd and it has been determined that the Year 10 students will be invited to stay at home this Friday 20 May.

As the College was having difficulty allocating appropriate levels of teaching staff for Year 11 and 12 classes, the decision to preclude one year level from onsite attendance allows the Year 10 teachers to be reallocated and any available replacement teachers be directed to the Coolock campus . Students are encouraged to continue with their own personal study. Please understand that online delivery is not currently permitted within the guidelines.

At this stage, Monday 23 May will be a normal day, with all students attending onsite. A reminder that Student-led Conferences will take place on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 May, with Tuesday being a pupil-free day. Please book your interviews through PAM.

Unfortunately, through the remainder of Term 2, these closures could well become more common and are already growing more frequent across all educational sectors. The lack of replacement teachers across the board is a massive issue and we are working hard to ensure normal operations for our students.

We understand that this is not the first time Year 10 has been invited to stay home and, if this continues to happen, we will endeavour to ensure there is parity across the year levels. Year 12 is the obvious exception.

We apologise for this inconvenience and thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely,

Brian Turner, Principal