Principal's Message - Term 3 2021

Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,

Dear Irfan Community,

I pray this reaches you in the best of health and iman. Alhamdulillah, with the leave and permission of Allah (swt), we have come to the end of a very different Term 3.

SubhanAllah, just when we thought our engagement with the pandemic was nearing to an end, New South Wales, and in particular our Western and South-west Sydney residents were yet to face their greatest test since the inception of COVID-19. Who would have thought we were going to spend a whole term away from school with online learning. However, all praise and thanks is due to Allah (swt) as He is the best of planners and no situation unfolds without His leave. Our sincerest condolences and prayers are with families who have been affected by the pandemic. May Allah (swt) accept it as a means of expiation and being raised in degrees.

This term was a challenge for all our stakeholders, students, parents and staff. I would like to convey my deepest thanks to our parents and staff for their extraordinary effort collaborating together to ensure the education of our children wasn’t compromised. I am extremely humbled and grateful to be in the service of such a dedicated school community.

NAPLAN 2021

I would like to share a positive note with our school community regarding our College’s NAPLAN scores for 2021. Alhamdulillah, all cohorts achieved their highest since our College’s establishment in 2013. Year 3 and Year 7 surpassed the state average for the first time, Year 5 caught up to the state average and Year 9 demonstrated their highest achievement ever. These results provided our College with great relief and reassurance that we are headed in the right direction in terms of academic achievement. I would like to thank our committed Executive team and teaching staff for this great success and development.

Return to School

A few weeks ago, the College communicated tentative dates to parents regarding school return. We understand there may be some concerns regarding our physical return to school and would like to assure our parents that our College will be taking steady steps that align with health advice to facilitate a safe return. Our return to school will be gradual in the following order:

•            from 25 October – Kindergarten and Year 1

•            from 1 November – Years 2, 6 and 11

•            from 8 November – Years 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10

Please do communicate any concerns you may have regarding our return to school by contacting the College office. We will ensure that all feedback from parents will be considered and evaluated by College Executive.

Year 12 Early Offers

One of the most affected cohorts from the lockdowns were undoubtedly the current Year 12s. With their HSC fast approaching, our Year 12 students have been working diligently and independently to minimise the impact of COVID and perform their best. We were very pleased to hear the news of  our students receiving an early offer from universities for 2022. We pray that our students are only confronted with khayr and attain a beneficial outcome in their HSC. We kindly request our school community keeps them in our prayers.

I pray our school community has a safe and enjoyable break Term 3 break and look forward to seeing our school community in Term 4.

Yours truly,

Mr Ali Arabaci.