My first week back from Leave and very grateful to Ms Gail Norris along with Mr Aaron Brown and Mr Peter Robinson for ‘stepping up’ while I was away. We have a great team of staff at Shalom who are enormously talented and reliable. Last Wednesday we celebrated Ash Wednesday and the start of the season of Lent. The Church gives us this season as an opportunity to reflect on where we can be better as individuals and as a society. We are encouraged to make a positive difference locally and globally. During the Ash Wednesday liturgies conducted in each House, the great work that Carits Australia do were highlighted particularly in regard to the efforts Caritas is making in Pacific nations where kids going to school, don’t have easy access to drinking water.

The biggest complaint our student have at Shalom is that the temperature is not quite perfect on the cold water bubblers! Too often, around the world, we are seeing countries focussed on themselves to the detriment of those most in need. That will have devastating impacts on those most at risk. Caritas, the Gospel and Lent remind all of us that Jesus reminds us clearly that we will be judged on the degree to which each of us reach out in response to those in need.

Last week I was contacted by a family who requested, because they were not Catholic, that their child not have to participate in the Ash Wednesday liturgy. This was a request I declined. Shalom is a Catholic College. We are very clear about that to all at point of enrolment. That said, we have students at Shalom of all faiths and none. No one here will make demands of a student’s faith response but we will expect that all participate in the liturgies we have with quiet and respectful attendance.

Busby Marou Fans! We’ve been able to secure Tom Busby of Busby Marou to come to Shalom for our Harmony Day celebration on Thursday 20 March. Tom will offer an acoustic concert in our Theatre on that night. Tickets are on sale now, see link below. Tom is a great entertainer and this will be a fundraiser for our travelling sports teams this year. Tickets are $40 per adult and $30 for school aged children.

Thomas Busby - acoustic set - BUY TICKETS HERE

School Funding & the looming Federal Election – it is highly likely that the Prime Minister will shortly announce the date of the next Federal election. I will not be surprised if the funding received from the Government by schools like Shalom will come into the spotlight – somewhere after Chinese destroyers off Bargara. Schools and funding is a regular election topic. Our fees increased this year as the Federal Government changed its funding formula. One of the key planks of that is to ask families who choose Catholic or Independent school education for their child to pay more if their circumstances allow that. The following short clip is worth a look to give a better understanding of how the funding arrangements currently work -

Keep School Funding Fair - Show Your Support - Keep School Funding Fair

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
Daniel_McMahon@rok.catholic.edu.au