Christmas Blessings to all Ambrose Treacy College Families
Christmas blessings to all Ambrose Treacy College families as we commence our final week of classes for the year.
The first cricket test of an Ashes summer over the past weekend, whether you are a cricket fan or not, heralds the sound and feel of an Australian Christmas approaching and the impending joy of sand between our toes, the peeling of prawns and the slowing down of life for just a little while.
The anticipation that is December is the anticipation of the Christian story and the waiting for the birth of the Christ child, Jesus. Another name for Jesus is a word with which many of us are familiar but perhaps don’t always deeply consider and that is Emmanuel.
Being an English teacher, I am always fascinated by words and their etymology. When I was a boy at Christmas Eve Mass, I greatly enjoyed all the Christmas hymns, primarily because they were different from the usual and because they were evocative and often inspired wonderful imagery of the nativity and theology in the lyrics that got me thinking. I particularly loved a tradition in our Parish when I was a boy when all the lights in the church would be turned down and the congregation would ever so gently sing Silent Night together. Every time I hear that song, I am 7 years old in the dark, listening to my mother sing “sleep in heavenly peace” next to me.
A word that fascinated me in the lyrics on the overhead projector in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s at Christmas Mass was Emmanuel. Our frenemy AI quickly tells us that Emmanuel is a name of Hebrew origin meaning "God with us". It appears in the Bible as a prophetic name for Jesus, signifying that God was present with humanity through him. The name is a combination of the Hebrew words "immanu" (with us) and "el" (God).
“God with us” calls to mind the Blessed Edmund Rice prayer and hope that Jesus may come to live in our hearts forever with which our community at ATC finishes each school day; a prayer that calls God to live with and be within and between us. A God that is present in the here and now, in us, and in our relationships and daily being.
At Christmas, we are reminded that there was “no room in the inn” for the God that wanted to be with us. We are reminded that Joseph and Mary prepared for His arrival in a stable and Emmanuel was born into simplicity, humility and in isolation and exclusion. Edmund Rice education was also born in a stable in Waterford, Ireland.
Among the treasure and the trash and the sparkle of lights and glitter of tinsel this Christmas, we are invited to open our hearts to the reality of the Christ child, Jesus is born, Emmanuel, the God who is with us.
A happy, Holy and joy filled Christmas to all in the Ambrose Treacy College community.
Staff News
As the year draws to a close, we farewell and thank several staff who are completing contract appointments with us.
Thank you and best wishes to the following fixed term contract staff:
Ms Lucy Jackson, Mr Brodie Van de Weyer, Ms Karen Bate, Ms Louise Pope, Mr Tristan Hart, Ms Keenan Moran and Ms Helen Rowling.
This week also sees the following teaching staff finish their time with us at Ambrose Treacy College and we wish them every success and happiness:
Mr Liam Maguire, Mr Jacob Gaudie.
Thank you
A lovely tradition at ATC is the generous gift of the parent community of the annual Parents and Friends Christmas lunch to be enjoyed next week when marking and reporting is completed. This gift is enormously appreciated by the staff community, and I thank all families for their kindness in providing this special time of camaraderie for us.
I extend my personal thanks and best wishes to the extended ATC community as I prepare to commence in my seconded role with the Edmund Rice Education Australia Colleges Executive Leadership Team in mid-January.
Dr Craig Wattam will then join the College Leadership Team and community. I am spending time with Craig today on the selection panel for our new Dean of Business Operations and I continue to be heartened by his experience, relational approach, good faith and pragmatism. I am extremely confident that the students, parents and staff of ATC will appreciate and enjoy Craig as College Principal in 2026 and that the community is in excellent hands.
I conclude my first six years at ATC with gratitude and look forward to connecting with the community in a different way through my role next year and to supporting Craig and the College Leadership Team in ensuring a smooth transition during this time of change.
In closing, I wish to acknowledge and thank Dr Conor Finn, Dean of Formation, Ms Deb Carcary, Dean of Business Operations and Ms Kate Garrone, Dean of Faith and Mission and wish them good health, rewarding work and peace always as they conclude their senior leadership at the College.
ATC looks forward to welcoming the return of Mr Tim Walker to our community as our second ever Dean of Formation and Mr Pat Webster to lead the Faith and Mission portfolio in 2026. Both gentlemen are excited and will do wonderful work.
God bless,
