Luke 6:37-39

Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back"                               

Dear San Clemente Families

As a Catholic school community, we marked the formal start to our College year on Wednesday 19^th February with an Opening school liturgy and assembly. During the liturgy, we proudly commissioned our Year 10 Student Leaders, and the assembly saw the recognition of several of our 2024 Year 10 students who excelled in their ROSA.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our leaders for their commitment to this role and the College community.

San Clemente Student Leaders 2025 

Sophia Aguba, Ashline Akato, Liana Alfred, Caitlyn Bladon, Iyla Chandler, Felix Connor, Amelia Fuentes, Lucy Gallagher, Georgina Hughes, Eleanor Judd, William Keegan, Heidi Krause, Jorja Manahan, Isabella McQueen, Charlotte Murray, Andie Nechakoski, Cole Opalenko, Kyan Peers, Xavier Richards, Francheska Santiago, Charlotte Seib, Emily Tucker and Aziz Zarrouf.

And congratulations again to our 2024 ROSA Excellence Award Winners – Matilda Corbett, Harry De Bock, Lara McKelvey, Charisse Watters-Cowan, Deacon Williams and Annabella Wyman.

Ash Wednesday Liturgy

This coming Wednesday, we will have our Ash Wednesday Liturgy. This liturgy marks the beginning of Lent, the period of preparation before Christ’s death and resurrection. Our students will receive the ashes on their foreheads as a symbol of their commitment to focus on the needs of others during the six weeks leading up to Easter.

Year 7 Camp

On Monday our Year 7 students head to camp to bond as a group, make new friends and to test their skills and resilience in the fun but challenging camp program at Point Wolstoncroft on Lake Macquarie. We wish them all the best for this special time in their school life.

Open Evening

The annual San Clemente Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 12th March from 5.30pm – 7.30pm starting in the Veritas Centre. There is plenty of advertising through Facebook and our website to allow all in the community to register their interest and attendance. I have already had the immense pleasure of visiting Year 6 pathway primary schools this week, ahead of the Open Evening. Our Year 10 student leaders were an important part of these visits, and I thank them for sharing their experience and positive insights into San Clemente life with the Year 6 students.

The Open Evening event is open to all in the community who seek a Catholic education for their child either in Year 7 2025 or in other year groups. A feature of the information session to start the evening will be an outline of the processes involved in the inclusion of Years 11 and 12 at San Clemente from 2026. If you have friends, family or neighbours who may be interested, please encourage them to come along and learn more about our very special community. We look forward to another successful Open Evening supported by our staff, students, and families on the night.

Safeguarding our students.

At San Clemente, we place the safety of our students at the core of how we plan, think and act. The Diocese has a positive obligation to reduce the risk of abuse to children derived from law and regulation.

Our Diocese must ensure compliance with two sets of standards, both derived from the Royal Commission into Institutional Historic Child Sexual Abuse. These include the NSW Child Safe Standards and the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS).

The ways in which our school meets these standards include:

• Our staff Code of Conduct and Commitment Statement is displayed on our website and posters in our school for transparency and to ensure that we all embrace a safeguarding culture, emphasising that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
• We have a Safeguarding Promoter in our school whose role it is to monitor compliance and risk and promote all things safeguarding as a priority.

• We educate our students about safe relationships and protective behaviours and ensure they understand their human rights.
• Our Student Leadership Team allows students to have a voice and be heard.
• Parents and students have access to support information via School TV on our website.
• Equity is promoted and diversity is respected in our school through education and special events.

• Our staff undertake mandatory safeguarding training.
• Our staff regularly undertake professional development as well as invite external speakers into the school to discuss safeguarding topics with students and staff including online safety, bullying, trauma-informed practice etc.
• Our staff are supported in their roles, especially new staff.
• Our school follows Diocesan student placement protocols and procedures.

• We promote all Safeguarding policies by ensuring they are communicated with families on our websites and through our communication channels.
• Our classrooms, counselling rooms and other areas in the school are safe spaces with visibility from the outside but do not compromise our students’ right to privacy and wellbeing.
• We have an effective complaints management system in place, with students and families having a variety of avenues to provide feedback or complaints.

With prayers and blessings,

Mrs Emma South, Principal