23 JUN 2022 From the Principal

Hello Parents, Students, Staff and other friends

I had the pleasure of visiting the Year 7 Camp at Marysville on Tuesday afternoon. It is always refreshing to drive over the Black Spur and find oneself surrounded by nature at its best. It was even more refreshing to arrive at the camp and see smiles beaming from faces as the girls and boys pushed themselves on activities such as high wall climbing. Following the complexities of the COVID restrictions this was a breath of fresh air literally and metaphorically. As the staff gathered together for a chat, there seemed to be a similar sense of excitement. The chilling breeze blowing off the Lake Mountain snow, was invigorating. I departed some time later affirmed that we have a delightful group of students and staff at Kolbe.

And while the COVID restrictions have eased somewhat, COVID itself has not gone away, nor has the flu. This along with increasing interest rates and inflation may be making life difficult for many of you. Please talk to us if the current climate has made paying school fees difficult. Call the Finance Department as we want to support you.

On a very different note, I mentioned in a previous newsletter that four years ago the maximum number of students we could enrol in Year 7 was 189. We were enrolling about 160 and had space to spare. As people have heard about the great things the students and staff are doing at Kolbe there has been increasing demand for enrolments. I have increased our enrolment capacity at Year 7 to 216. To date, we have had 175 applications for students wishing to enrol in 2024. We may reach our maximum intake soon. If any students have a younger sibling wishing to enrol for Year 7 2024, please contact our Registrar for an enrolment package as we are nervous current families may not gain a position if they miss the August 19 2022 application date.

Finally, it has been quite an intense Term 2. There have been consistently high absence rates for staff and students due to illness and this has created a difficult learning and teaching environment. Let us pray that Term 3 might bring greater stability.

Thanks everyone.

Nick Scully
Principal