Year 9 Pastoral Guardian

I want to begin by wishing all the mothers of our Year 9 girls a very Happy Mother’s Day for last Sunday.  I want to applaud you for all of the other days in between each Mother’s Day.  It is on these other days of the year that mothers wake up and put their best feet forward to do the best for their beautiful daughters.  On these other 364 days Year 9 daughters can often be completely unaware and indeed offended by what you are doing as a parent and are certainly unlikely to consider giving you flowers.

I want to congratulate you for having to make the hard decisions to say no when they want you to say yes, to make them do their jobs and help at home, to encourage them to do their homework and study, to make attending school and school-related events not optional, to tell them to go to bed at reasonable times, to not stay up on their phones, to say no to parties that you intuitively know are not okay, and call them to account when they are disrespectful.  It is these more challenging, and at times exhausting, elements of being a mum for which I sincerely want to thank you.  We are blessed to have your beautiful daughters as a part of our Mount Alvernia community and, for that, as Year 9 Pastoral Guardian I say thank you and remind you how grateful I am to work alongside you on your daughters’ journey.

Therese Dooley

Conversation Starter

Why do you think I say no to you sometimes?