Welcome to Week 6. I have been very busy this week doing final enrolment interviews before our Year 7 Orientation Days next week. It is a privilege to meet these new students and their parents and to get to know them better. Orientation Days are on September 2 and 3, and in Term 3 on November 6. If you know of any families who are looking to enrol at Hennessy, please encourage them to contact the front office to organise their enrolment.

Year 12 students continue to get their marks back for their recent trial exams. It is very important that they take on board any teacher feedback and carefully reflect on how they can continue to improve. Despite the distraction of early entry into universities, we encourage students to do their best so they can be proud of their achievements and growth.

Next Monday the new Executive Director, Mr David de Carvalho will visit Hennessy for the day. He will visit classrooms and meet with staff, students and community Council reps. As he is new in his role, this is a great opportunity for us to showcase our wonderful school and for him to understand some of the challenges of regional schools.

Students are reminded that the use of mobile phones at school is banned in Years 7 and 8 and restricted in Years 9 - 12. I would highly encourage families to monitor the use of phones and social media at home and to make their child’s bedroom a device-free zone.

Last week I had the honour of attending the Australian Catholic Education Conference. Mrs Natalie Turner also attended as a member of the Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG). There were many excellent speakers, but the standout speaker for me was Dr Steve Constantino, who spoke about family engagement and challenged us all to consider how welcoming we are to families both new and old. He had a wonderful poem which he had written: