Term 2 commences with great spirits
I usually try and make these communications about something other than the events that have transpired in the past fortnight, but it is timely to share our 'event planning' with you now that most restrictions have been lifted.
The Term has started really well, with the boys returning in great spirits and seemingly refreshed. Thank you for preparing them for us. Tuesday last week was Parent/Teacher/Student interviews, and I've received many reports that the process went well. In fact, the universal feedback I've received is about the Teams format being a preferred model and would we consider continuing with it in the future. While this sounds like a groundswell of support for this format, unsolicited feedback, as valued as it is, is probably not in itself a reliable statistic. For this reason, the College will soon send you a survey to ascertain your preference and if there are any changes, we will endeavour to create a hybrid model so that future P/T/S are delivered in a way that allows some flexibility for families to engage with staff in the way that best suits their circumstances.
I hope you have found Ms Knox's COVID-19 updates useful. The latest update would have indicated that most restrictions have been lifted. As a result, we are looking to move back to some 'normalcy'. School sport, camps, the College Ball, excursions and incursions are all back on the calendar. Vertical Mentor Groups will return next Monday, and students and families will re-unite with their pre-restriction Mentor teachers. Whilst this is pleasing, in fact joyous, I need to share with you that the difficulties in managing the College have not suddenly disappeared. There still exists some anxiety among staff and students about catching COVID, and what I have found when ringing families who have been affected by the virus, there is no rhyme or reason to its effects. My personal experience was so mild that had my wife not been suffering from it, I wouldn't have even known I had it. Some families have breezed through, others have endured a nightmare. Some families have had very differing experiences within their household, so to make assumptions that all is now well is a bit too simplistic for me in guiding the College's decision-making.
Each day there are up to 30 to 40 more boys absent from campus than normal. They are completing their education online during their convalescence where COVID is the issue and the College has followed up with those families and, where needed, dropped off books, work or RATs. Whilst problematic, these absences do not affect the running of the College, which can be affected dramatically when staff are away. At the moment, we have anywhere up to 10-15 staff away each day, and you may have heard anecdotally there is a dearth of available relief teachers across Australia. Ms Bowler has done a fantastic job cultivating a dedicated pool of relief teachers to cover the absences, and they enjoy teaching at CBC Fremantle so much that they have restricted their work just to our school. The way that our staff have responded by volunteering their DOTT to take relief is also testament to their commitment and dedication to your sons. This week we asked for a pool of parents to help out with admin duties in the event of Allied Staff absence and were inundated, so the quality of our community is universal; great staff, great students and great parents. To this point we haven't had to collapse classes or invoke critical worker arrangements, and I hope this remains the case.
if you really love your mum, value your mum, wish to honour your mum, the best way to do that is to become your mum.
It is for these reasons that we have been cautious with any large gatherings. The Anzac Day Ceremony was conducted with the Year 12 student leaders present and a livestream to the rest of the boys in their Mentor Rooms. Sadly, the decision was taken to restrict our Mother's Day Liturgy to the Year 7 cohort only. I fully understand the disappointment this has caused among our mums, and the final responsibility for the decision is mine. I realise that I have, in making this decision, upset a few of you and ask that you forgive me, but many of our Year 7 families have had zero engagement with the College to this point, and although the argument can be made that they have many more opportunities ahead, an equal case can be made for the value and importance of enculturating our newest boys and families at the start of their journey. For Year 12 mums, there will be a special evening just for you and your son to re-live his CBC journey, and if it's anything like the last one we had, I'm sure it will go a long way to alleviating the disappointment felt by missing out on what may have been your last Mother's Day at CBC.
In concluding, may I just take the opportunity to wish our mums and grandmums all the very best on Sunday. Most of you know my view on mums; it should be Mother's Day every day. The message I gave the boys this week is that if you really love your mum, value your mum, wish to honour your mum, the best way to do that is to become your mum. Become selfless, deliver unconditional love, never give up, never give in and above all, never break her heart, because she will never break yours.
Mr Domenic Burgio
Principal
