PARENT SATISFACTION

From the outset, when we meet parents and carers of our students at the enrolment interview, we speak of the importance of the partnership between parents and the school community and open communication. First and foremost, we let our families know that we welcome feedback. We welcome all communication and use the information garnered to continually improve all that we do at St Gregory’s College.

Throughout 2022 we held Parent Forums both face to face as well as providing online information sessions. We send out surveys after events and we welcome parents to speak to their student’s Year Leader, Academic Coordinator, Director of Students or Head of Senior School.

Some of the feedback we have received is as follows:

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your amazing team for the wonderful Graduation Day and Night last Friday.

While I have attended a few Grad masses when the girl’s friends had graduated, I hadn’t experienced the “parent side” of the celebrations.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. While I was overwhelmed with emotions, I was so honoured to be a part of this amazing school over the last 6 years and we feel so very blessed.

I am just writing as I wanted to share with you some of the conversations that took place in our home last night about the assembly that took place yesterday and pass on my congratulations to those responsible for organising what sounds like a very moving and thought provoking event.

Yesterday afternoon I picked up my son with two of his friends after Maths Help to drive them home. Upon asking them about their day, which is normally met with “fine” “yeah, ok” “hmmph”, I was met with all three young men telling me about the R U OK Assembly and how great they thought it was. Each of them took turns in telling me about the things that occurred in the assembly and what impacted each of them. They all shared how moved they were by the student stories, particularly the Year 12 student who very bravely shared his story and raw emotion. My son shared with me that he felt deeply moved by the events of the assembly and how important he felt it was that the community were able to see that it is ok for young men to show their struggles and emotions. All agreed it was the best assembly they had attended and they had taken away important messages from what had been presented. It was also great to hear both of them share their praise for the Junior School and the Wakakirri performance and what a great job they have done.

Just a brief note of Congratulations on the End of Year Mass held in the Br Luke Hall. My family and I were most impressed. The organisation, which had to be enormous, was excellent. Music was outstanding. Even how your music teacher could arrange to transition from that Little Drummer Boy to the Salve Regina was truly remarkable. Both were stirring renditions. Student behaviour was both notable and inspiring – a very difficult task bearing in mind the wide range of ages from Kindergarten to Year 11 along with their varying attention spans. Class teachers must have worked very hard! The seemingly endless procession of gifts was a sight to behold. Most impressive by anyone’s standards. We were most impressed with the respectful yet not stilted nature of the entire celebration. Could you please pass on our thanks and admiration to all those staff who worked to produce such a great event.

I want to pay tribute to the community of St Greg’s and in particular to the staff who have nurtured the spirit handed on to them by the Marist Brothers. Today, the Brothers must have been really happy and affirmed and I know their presence is important to the community.

What struck me today was the quality of presence in the hall, a warm, participative presence that came as the lights were slightly lowered and silence fell on the gathering. I had a strong sense of relationship throughout the Liturgy and felt very connected in spite of the fact that I knew very few people in the gathering. Such an atmosphere doesn’t ‘just happen’ when we gather for a liturgy. It is a reflection of the way people relate to each other in the everyday events of the College. That sense of warmth and connection continued as I enjoyed morning tea and was waited on, like a VIP.

I really loved the moment of Traditio! What a marvellous way to honour those values most cherished by the College. I was struck too by the confidence and maturity of all the students, relative to their ages. They seemed to be at home in themselves in a place where they know they are loved. I give thanks for the promise it offers to our world in the young men who graduate.

My love and strong hope for all God is doing through St Greg’s community.

Congratulations to you all on putting together such a powerful assembly on an incredibly important issue facing our young people, particularly on such a difficult day for the Macarthur community. Please pass on our congratulations to all involved, especially the young man of Year 12 who was so brave yesterday. Have a great day and thank you for all of the opportunities you provide for our sons.

This award nomination for my son is also a credit to the hard work that everyone at St Greg’s ( staff and teachers ) have done in helping our beautiful son become a great young man. I am truly going to miss you all when he leaves in September. Please thank everyone who has taken him under their wing for 6 years and who have just been there or taught him.

I can’t thank you all enough.

My apologies for the delay in sending this email, I am a shift worker. We wanted to say a very sincere thank you to you and whomever the teaching group is who selected our son to be the recipient of the Champagnat Award. To say he was chuffed is a massive understatement. My husband was able to be there in the day and record it for me and I loved hearing what you had to say about our son and watch him squirm being the centre of attention!

He had been a bit despondent and worried this year as he had hardly received any green stamps, much fewer than previous years. He was worried that he wasn’t being ‘seen’ by his teachers and his good behaviour was just expected and the not-so-good kids were being recognised for occasional good behaviour.

We are more proud of our son receiving the Champagnat Award than getting Dux or any of his academic awards. He is such a good kid at home as well, he has never given us an ounce of trouble. How he behaves at school is truly who he is, not a performance for when he is at school.

I just wanted to say thank you to you and whoever the other teachers were who selected him to receive that award. Can you please pass on our thanks to the selection team. It really has meant an awful lot to him and we love seeing his heart so happy.