Welcome to my final reflection for 2024.

Another year ends with many saying “Where has the year gone?”.

Recently, we held the Graduation for the 2024 Year 12 cohort,; the culmination of six years at Notre Dame College for a group of students that I would rate as one of the best Year 12 cohorts we have had in my time here at Notre Dame. That is a huge credit to these students, to their families and to the staff who supported them. As these students enter the big wide world, we wish them well in whatever direction they are taking in life, be it university, apprenticeship, employment or family life.

The Early Commencement Programme (ECP), has seen all students promoted before the end of the 2024 school year into the next year level. This gives all the students a chance to taste the subjects they selected for the following year, to get a little bit of work completed now and to have some work sent home with them as preparation for the following year. A highlight is also meeting their new teachers for the following year. This is a brilliant way to complete their year of schooling. We see excitement, we see challenges, we see some faces that show fear and trepidation about where they are heading, but as always, we recognise a notion of excitement in all. I wish all students well with the subjects they’ve chosen for next year.

There have been some challenging parts through the year as we continue to embed aspects of the ‘Teacher Agreement’ that was delivered some two years ago. We have experienced some difficulties, however Notre Dame College has worked through those difficulties to reach a resolution.

There is excitement as our school and all schools in the Sandhurst Diocese look to align themselves with a vision of MAGNIFY. This is a model that Sandhurst Diocese schools will embrace to enhance learning, well-being and engagement for the students.

I continue to say that Notre Dame is one of the greatest schools in the area, if not Victoria. Some measures that indicate this for me is that student enrolments continue to grow in 2025 and we remain fully staffed, despite the challenges facing education at the moment with regards to teacher shortages. Despite the staff shortages in Victoria, whenever a staff member leaves Notre Dame and we advertise their position, we receive a number of applications for the vacancy, which makes an easy task of selecting the right person for the job.

The preference for dedicated staff to work here and the desire for students to be well educated at Notre Dame College, to me, is an indication that collegiately, we’re doing a tremendous job.

2024 has been an incredible year and rightly we are proud of our school and the community of Notre Dame College.

We all look forward to all having a wonderful break through the festive season, and returning in 2025 refreshed and ready to attack the new school year presented to us.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

John Cortese
Principal