From the Principal
What a wonderful fortnight it has been, with multiple community events and students having the opportunity to participate in a range of competitions with some great results! One of the things that was very much missed in the last two years was the opportunity to come together and participate in activities and events. It’s been fantastic to see the energy, excitement and high levels of participation in the College events so far this year.
On Thursday 24 February our 2021 Celebration of Achievement Evening was held. This was a wonderful acknowledgment and celebration of our highest achieving students in 2021, and it was lovely to be able to have award recipients and their family members gather together in the auditorium. Past pupil Vikki Petraitis gave a very inspiring and encouraging keynote address, our Year 7 and 8 Choir gave a very polished performance after only a couple of weeks of rehearsals and Evie Hannan’s performance of ‘Naughty’ from Matilda was outstanding. Congratulations to everyone involved in this wonderful celebration and to all award recipients on their outstanding achievement!
Our recent House Swimming Carnival was our first whole school event for 2022 that we were all able to be together for. Participation levels were high and there was great house spirit, energy and enthusiasm throughout the day! Well done to everyone who contributed to making this one of our best sports carnivals and congratulations to Brigid House, the overall winners on the day.
This week we celebrated International Women’s Day with our annual breakfast that has become a much-anticipated event on our College calendar each year. Our students once again shone, hosting the breakfast, delivering very reflective and impressive speeches about International Women’s Day and entertaining all gathered with musical performances. Our keynote speaker was past pupil Fiona McCormack AM who is Victoria’s Victims of Crime Commissioner. Fiona spoke so passionately about the impact of crime on women, the positive changes that have occurred in recent years and what more needs to be done to break the cycle of gendered violence. The theme for International Women’s Day this year was #BreaktheBias. As was noted a number of times during our breakfast, every one of us, female and male, has a role to play. Each of us can choose to challenge and call out gender bias and work towards achieving a gender equal world.
The Season of Lent
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a period of 40 days in which Christians reflect on Jesus’ words and example and prepare to celebrate his death and resurrection at Easter time. As a school community we celebrated Ash Wednesday with Mass before school and a liturgy during homeroom, during which ashes were distributed. In his message for Lent, Pope Francis, encouraged us to “persevere in generously doing good in the world, bolstered by prayer and by fighting evil in our own lives, including an addiction to digital media.” Speaking of the importance of human connection and relationship in our lives and world, Pope Francis described Lent as “a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication made up of ‘authentic encounters’—face-to-face and in person”. Perhaps during this season of Lent, we can make a concerted effort to detach from our digital/social media and actively engage in ‘authentic encounters’ with our family, friends and others in our community.
In this last fortnight we have been confronted by the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin and the devastation caused by floods in Queensland and New South Wales. No doubt, all those impacted have been in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. I share with you this prayer for Ukraine:
Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine,
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.
We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.
We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.
Amen.
(Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)
Nicole Mangelsdorf
Principal