As the new school semester began last week, all of our pre-tertiary education programmes enrolled new students and welcomed back old ones.
MTP now has four year levels. Year One had a record new intake of 20 students, with returning students in the remaining three levels bringing the school roll up to a total of 50 students. MTP is still based in the Marist Education Centre, however the increased number of students meant some changes had to be made.
The senior Year Four students now have their classes a short walk down the road in the newly-named Jean-Claude Colin Centre, which is also home to the ACU online programme and the health team office. This shift means that the Colin Centre building is no longer under-utilised, and there is more room at Marist Education Centre for the expanding MTP and Child Protection programmes.
The new semester also saw a few staff changes – we welcome Sr Christina May RNDM as a teacher of Burmese and Science. Andrew Moraes resumes his previous role of maths teacher to the senior students, and Br Arnold takes on several English classes.
The Child Care Program, based in the Chanel Community Centre welcomed 22 new students and 21 old students. This is still a little short of the programme’s capacity of 60 students. The children are divided into three classes: Nursery (19 students); Kindergarten (10 students); and, for the first time, Grade One (14 students). There was a great turnout at the parents’ meeting held last week. There were positive discussions between staff and parents, and Fr John was available to answer many of the questions and concerns about the continuity and stability of the programme.