From the Principal
A Prayer for a New School Year
Lord Jesus,
We come before you asking for your divine guidance
and blessings as we embark on a brand new school year.
We ask that You would keep us safe
and protected throughout the days ahead.
Give us strength and courage to face new challenges
and push through difficult times.
Help us to focus on our studies
and stay motivated in our pursuits of knowledge.
Let us always remember why we are here,
to learn and grow and become the best versions of ourselves.
Bless each of us with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding
that will help us excel in this upcoming school year.
Lead us with Your guiding grace
and keep us following the path You have set forth.
Jesus, inspire us to do our best this year!
Amen
A warm welcome to our new school year and all that it promises here at Domremy College for 2023. I hope the summer break was thoroughly enjoyed, allowing families the time to relish each other’s company during the holidays and time to rejuvenate.
On behalf of our College community, I extend a special welcome to our new Year 7 students, the Class of 2028, as well as to new students from Years 8 to 11 and their families who have joined Domremy this year. My hope for you as parents, is that your association with our school is a long and happy one, and that you experience a partnership that enables you to offer your support and involvement in your daughter’s learning and faith development. It is now widely accepted that when a strong partnership exists between schools and parents, students fare better with their achievements and feelings of wellbeing.
The busyness of the new year has indeed begun well, with much excitement and positivity. Whilst it has been full steam ahead, there is a very calm and wonderful feeling in the College which is quite uplifting. Everyone, students and staff, seem to have settled in with eagerness for what will be another remarkable year.
We have had a fabulous response to our Year 7 Information Evening and Stage 4 Assessment Sessions last week which were well attended by parents. The support and affirmations received from our parents has been very affirming.
HSC Class of 2022
The collective performance of the HSC Class of 2022 placed Domremy 149th in the State showing significant learning growth. Additionally 84% of the courses reported results above state average and in total 26 of our students made the Distinguished Achievers List – that’s 37% of the cohort, a wonderful statistic.
Emily Fernandez made the Top Achievers list – receiving a result in the highest band possible in PDHPE – placing her 15th in the State. Additionally, Isabella Palamara received a nomination in both Encore and OnStage, and Beatrice Porcellato received an ArtExpress nomination. Additionally, there were approximately 12 girls who achieved an ATAR of 90 or higher.
We congratulate Emily Fernandez who received the highest ATAR of 96.55, making her the Dux of the College for 2022.
Congratulations and well done to all our young women and their teachers! We also thank their parents for their unwavering love and support!
College Leadership Team
Leadership at Domremy is a collaborative and collegial approach that fosters a growth mindset. The College Leadership for 2023 is as follows:
College Principal – Antoinette McGahan
Deputy Principal – Matthew Ryan
Religious Education Coordinator – Jane Sullivan
Curriculum Coordinator – Elsa Minadeo
Instructional Specialist – Lucy Silva
Leader of Learning & Teaching – Kelly Smit
Leader of School Administration – Lisa Tabua
Business Manager – Peter Ephraums
Leadership Appointments
We congratulate the following staff on their appointment to the following positions for 2023:
Lisa Tabua – Leader of School Administration
Natasha Maoudis – Acting TAS Coordinator
George Lavidis – Science Coordinator
Monica Ribeiro – Year 9 Coordinator & Youth Ministry Coordinator
Bridget Malloy – Acting Year 8 Coordinator
Mark Pangilinan – STEM Coordinator
Diana Hall and Lia Suine – Acting Diverse Learning Coordinators
Nicole Kanis – Assistant Sports Coordinator
Cristina Peros – Duke of Edinburgh and Social Justice Coordinator
New and Returning Staff
It is my pleasure to warmly welcome our new staff, recognising that each of them will bring to our community new energy, enthusiasm and a wealth of expertise and experience.
Melissa Alamango – PDHPE
Sarah Bermingham – TAS – Design & Technology/RE
Danielle Coffey – TAS
Sam Fleri – Maths/Science
Alyssa Intili – English
George Lavidis – Science
Jemma O’Regan – Visual Arts
Chloe Pizzuti – Religious Education
Gregory Sciortino – HSIE/RE
Amanda Chatwood – HSIE
Le Giang Tran – Maths (commencing 27 February)
All new staff were presented with a lantern symbolising the carrying of Christ’s light forward in our vocation and as Presentation people.
We also welcome back Mrs Katherine Rowen who was on leave in 2022.
Staff Farewells
It is never easy to farewell those who have served the College well.
We farewelled Ms Linda Codamo, Administration Coordinator at the end of last year. Ms Codamo had been at Domremy since 2008. Ms Codamo was a PDHPE teacher much loved by all her students and assumed various leadership roles over the years. She was an invaluable member of staff as well as the College Leadership Team. Over the years, Linda held various leadership positions that were carried out with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. She will be greatly missed. We wish her joy and every success as Director of Wellbeing at Marist College Eastwood where she commenced this year.
We farewell Mr Matthew Couani, Science and STEM Coordinator. Mr Couani has been a valued member of our College staff and of the Middle Leaders since joining Domremy in 2015. He has been a passionate, committed and dedicated teacher who always extracted the best from his students. Matt is well respected by both staff and students and he will be sorely missed when he leaves at the start of March. We will take the opportunity to farewell Matt later this month. We take this opportunity of also congratulating Mr Couani and his wife on the recent arrival of their third child. We appreciate all his contributions and wish him every success as he takes up his new role as Assistant Dean of Learning (Middle School) at Rosebank College after a period of parental leave.
2023 College Theme
“Grow from what you go through” is our 2023 College theme. Our Senior Student Leaders continued their annual tradition by launching the College theme for 2023 at our Opening Assembly. Each year a theme is workshopped and purposefully selected to encourage and inspire all members of our community to achieve their full potential in all they do.
This year’s theme is self explanatory, and supports our growth mindset philosophy at the College. We grow from each and every experience and ultimately this leads to growth as a person.
We hope to see our students embrace the theme throughout the year, to use it to grow, shining their light, deepening their knowledge, learning from their mistakes and understanding the importance of their contribution to our community. As they grow from their experiences, we grow as a community.
Holiday Renovations
It was a busy time for renovations and upgrades over the holidays at the College with work completed around the College including:
- Tinting of the concrete in the Plaza area
- Bathroom renovations – Notre Dame, Delapre, Mary MacKillop
- Removal of operable walls in MMC Upper – replaced with sliding glass doors
- Removal of wooden doors in MMC Upper – replaced with glass doors
- Resurfacing of the Science Courtyard
- Refurbishing of the Pottery Room – PW01
- Stripping and re-carpeting PW03 to become a Music room
- Benches installed in MMG10
- Repurposing and refurbishing of the Solais Sandpit to a Maker Space – (ongoing)
On a final note …
We are certainly off to an awesome start and it has been an absolute delight to see so many of you at recent school events. We are certainly looking forward to the many opportunities planned during the course of this year, to meet and work with parents and carers to ensure success in your daughters’ journey at Domremy.
We have a busy few weeks ahead with the introduction of the SCS Amadeus Music Program for Years 7 and 8, the College Swimming Carnival on Friday 24 February and Open Day on Sunday 5 March. Open Day is our biggest community event scheduled each year when we can showcase our beautiful school, the grounds and facilities, and most importantly all our wonderful students and staff. It is this which makes the day so special. Information will come home via Compass and The Parent Weekly about Open Day, and the day in lieu for all staff and students will take place on Monday 13 March.
Over the next two weeks I, accompanied by some of our Year 12 Student Leaders and Year 8 students as our College ambassadors, will be visiting our Feeder Catholic Primary Schools with details about Enrolment, Open Day, our upcoming Try Domremy for a Day and College Tours.
If you know of family or friends who are considering a high school education for their daughters, please extend an invitation to them to come along to our Open Day. It promises to be an exciting, fun filled and memorable day for all those who attend.
I wish each of you all the very best for 2023. I look forward to what lays ahead of us and thank you for your trust and support.
Blessings on you and your families,
Mrs Antoinette McGahan
College Principal