God of transcendent light,
You reveal yourself to us in the sacred mystery of presence.
Shine into our hearts and illuminate for us the sacred in all of creation,
that we may treasure your mystery within ourselves,
within one another, and within all living things on this earth.
We ask this in the name of your Beloved Son, Jesus. Amen.

As Lent continues, we remain dedicated to nurturing empathy, compassion, and understanding in our students. Inspired by the example of Jesus Christ, we strive to cultivate hearts and minds focused on kindness and helping others. Our hope for the San Clemente community is to embrace these values and be "other-focused" as we approach Easter.

Our annual Open Evening was held on Wednesday 12th March in preparation for 2026 enrolments. This event was extremely well attended, with more than 400 in attendance on the night which was delightful. The work of our staff right across the school in welcoming families to the school and ensuring that our prospective students experienced a genuine taste of what can be expected at San Clemente should be commended and acknowledged. We are blessed to have such generous and hard-working staff. Alongside our staff, we had students performing, painting, experimenting and teaching in learning spaces, proving themselves to be subject specialists and wonderful ambassadors for our school community. Our Student Leaders supported as Tour Guides for the evening too, and the feedback from prospective students and their families showed this to be an extremely worthwhile element of the evening. The commitment of our student helpers for this evening illustrated their passion for service, one of our four Dominican pillars.

Enrolment positions at San Clemente next year are expected to be keenly sought and we encourage families to now complete the online enrolment application and submit them to be wholly considered in the enrolment process for 2026. 

We celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday 7th March, inviting three former students, Pinn Tongue, Kate Slowey and Annabelle Jones back to out school. Presenting as part of an inaugural IWD Forum discussion, our three guests were inspirational yet relatable role models for our young women. We are already planning a similar event for our young men for International Men’s Day in November, where we will recognise some wonderful role models for this group too.

Our youngest students had an amazing time on Year 7 Camp last week. The staff at Camp Wolstencroft had high praise for our students, stating that they were the best school group to visit the venue in a long time. We are not at all surprised, as this was reflected in the feedback from our teachers too. I thank the students for their positive engagement in the camp, where they demonstrated a commitment to building community and developing their own sense of resilience and courage. I know that the friendships strengthened and formed will last with you throughout your time at the college and afterwards into your adult lives.

Families will have received their school fee accounts in recent weeks and I thank all families for their commitment to fee payments and to the families who have met with me regarding their payment plans. Our school does rely upon the commitment to fee payments by all enrolled families and as is regularly stated no student will be denied a Catholic education if the capacity to pay fees is limited due to personal financial circumstances. However, fee assistance can only be granted when a meeting with the principal is arranged and only on the grounds that there is a genuine inability as distinct from an unwillingness to pay fees. Again, I am very grateful to San Clemente families for their ongoing commitment in relation to this matter.

With prayers and blessings,

Mrs Emma South, Principal