In week 8 Michelle Katuke, Catherine Davis, Charlotte Nicoletti and Nathan Mansfield joined educators from around the state at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Education NSW State Conference in Cessnock. The conference took place over two days and during this time staff had the privilege of listening to guest speakers such as Dr Anita Heiss, Kurt Fearnley, Dr Jeff McMullen and Sarah Kastelic. 

Staff also participated in a range of workshops where they learned about leadership, mindfulness, connecting with country, painting, spirituality and caring for children in out of home care. Some of the key issues to come out of the conference were embedding Indigenous culture in the classroom and fostering strong connections to community. Staff were able to engage with educators from other parts of the state and discuss current school practice and how to build on this for the future. 

Next term sees the conclusion to our Gurumbangma Indigenous Mentoring program with the last day being held on Tuesday 29th of October. This will be a fun day for all of the Years 5 and 6 students who have participated. 

Finally, we wish our graduating year 12 students: Tayliah Andy, Luke Campbell, Nelson Leslight, Harry Owens, Jonah Slockee-Albert and Klaye Van Weerdenburg all the best for the future and thank them for their contributions to our programs. We would also like to especially thank Jonah for his outstanding leadership over the past two years. We will miss you all!