Welcome to the final week of Term 1. Thank you to all our students and parents for making Term 1 at St. Clare’s so very enjoyable. I would sincerely like to express my gratitude to all staff for the amazing effort that they put into each and everyday. I am constantly humbled and deeply grateful for the passion with which the staff of St. Clare’s take on challenges, and wish all staff and families some time over the break to take a moment to recharge the batteries.

We are about to enter into the holiest time of the year, with April 6 marking Holy  Thursday and the beginning of the Triduum. These days, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are our way of remembering and reflecting on Jesus’ final days on earth and His glorious resurrection.
Holy Week for Christians is a very special  time. It is a week during which we do things that we don’t usually do and hear things we usually don’t hear. Holy Week is definitely a week with a difference and spiritually rewarding for Christians who, willingly, are part of its unfolding.

Building update - this Friday I will be meeting with the successful tenderer, Allan Sultana Constructions, and members of the Cairns Catholic Education Planning & Building Team. I anticipate work to begin on the student amenities block and new multi-purpose classroom during the upcoming break. Temporary student toilets are being delivered and installed on Wednesday 5th April. We hope that the demolition work needed on the current student amenities block will be carried out during the break to minimise noise during term time. Our access around the school will need to change to accommodate these works, in particular moving between the upstairs classrooms, offices and library. It is likely that the stairs leading off the Prep & Year 1 classrooms will not be in use during Term 2. A huge thank you to all the parents who helped clear out the storage rooms and underneath the school in preparations.

We also look forward to the new data projector and screen being installed in the Hall on Tuesday 4th April.

Attendance - currently 84.7% of St. Clare’s students have attended school 90% of
the time. 16.8% of absences are unexplained, please remember to contact the office to notify of student absences. If you are experiencing difficulties with attendance/ lateness for reasons not related to illness, please make contact as we may be able to offer support to assist reluctant or anxious students.

A bright future for your child starts with good school attendance every day - all day. While good attendance doesn’t automatically guarantee positive outcomes for students, positive outcomes in academics, personal growth and wellbeing and social emotional health can be impacted by low attendance.

Ten minutes late, or ten minutes leaving early every day soon adds to 50 minutes per week.  This equates to almost 1.5 weeks in a year. If the pattern continues, over the course of the student’s 13 years of schooling, this equates to about half a year of school that is missed. A day here or there, or a missed afternoon on several occasions each term may not seem like much, but 15 days of school missed across the year (the equivalent of 4 days per term) will add to an entire year of school missed by the time your child completes Year 12.

Attendance matters - every day counts!

Prep 2024 is very nearly full, with just a few spaces left.  If you have a child born between 1/7/2018 and 30/6/2019, your child is eligible to start Prep in 2024. Please go to our website to complete an online enrolment - https://www.stclares.qld.edu.au/enrolling/enrolment-application/. Interviews for 2024 will commence in Term 2.

Blessing to you all for the week ahead and the Season of Easter.

Take care,
Karran Burzacott
Principal