Principal

Mary Noticed First: A Mother’s Day Reflection on Attentive Love

Last Friday, our College community gathered at Rosehill Gardens for an extraordinary Mother’s Day Mass - so lovingly organised by our Director of Identity, Gillian Daley, and presided over with warmth and humour by Fr Tom Stevens, Parish Priest at St Patrick’s Catholic Parish, Mortlake. In his homily, Father Tom reflected on how love changes and grows through the seasons of life, and he drew us into the Gospel story of the Wedding at Cana. What I didn’t expect - what truly caught my breath - was the wonderful surprise of seeing my daughter, Antonella, arrive. It was a poignant moment because, when she was at school, I was often unable to share a liturgy like that with her; my work commitments meant that, more times than I care to count, I was present at everyone else’s celebration while quietly missing my own.

The Gospel at Cana has always felt like one of the most tender windows into Mary’s heart. She does not take centre stage, and yet everything shifts because she is paying attention. She notices the quiet problem before it becomes public embarrassment; she names it simply - “They have no wine” - and she places it gently before her Son. And then she does the most profoundly Christian thing a mother can do: she entrusts the situation to Jesus, and she turns to the servants with words that sound like a lifelong lesson of discipleship- “Do whatever he tells you.” That line has echoed through the Church for centuries, not because it is dramatic, but because it is true: Mary teaches us how to live by faith. At Cana, she is not only a mother but also a believer. She models the courage to bring needs into the light, the humility to release control, and the trust to let God act in His way and His time. And in that moment of ordinary shortage, Jesus gives His first sign - turning water into wine - an act that reveals not only His power, but His generosity. If mothers so often notice what is missing before anyone else does, then Mary shows us that holy love is not just noticing - it is noticing and bringing it to Christ, and then stepping back, confident that He will provide what we cannot. 

And then, as if the day wasn’t already full enough, it continued with the Year 12 Mother’s Day lunch at Oatlands House. There, I received a gift that felt less like an object and more like a prayer made tangible: a beautiful pearl-and-Swarovski-crystal rosary, holding within it special images of my late and deeply beloved mother and father. In that moment, memory and gratitude came rushing in together - love, loss, and belonging all at once. 

Mother’s Day does that. It gathers up what we still have and what we still miss and asks us to hold both with tenderness.

Today, as I continue to look back across 44 years in education, I find myself returning to the same quiet truth: the greatest work of my life has never been in programs, policies, titles, or milestones - important as those things can be. The greatest work has always been people. It has been the privilege of being invited into lives at their most formative moments and trying - imperfectly but sincerely - to help young people become more fully themselves.

For me, the three roles that have shaped my adult life - teacher, leader, mother - have never lived in separate compartments. They have overlapped, strengthened each other, and sometimes competed for my attention. They have stretched me in ways I didn’t anticipate. And they have taught me that love is not a feeling you wait for; love is something you choose, again and again, in the ordinary.

To be a teacher is to give yourself away in a thousand small ways that no one applauds. It’s learning names and keeping them close. It’s noticing when a student walks in carrying more than a schoolbag. It’s staying steady when your own heart is tired. It’s holding hope on behalf of a child who has misplaced theirs. Over the decades, I’ve watched confidence awaken in a student who once shrank at the idea of being seen. I’ve witnessed a boy discover his own goodness after years of thinking he was only trouble. I’ve received messages years later - simple, unpolished, honest - that said, “Thank you for not giving up on me.” Those are the moments that remain. They’re not recorded in data, but they are written in the heart.

Motherhood, though - motherhood has been the deepest education of all. It taught me what no training ever could: that every child belongs to a family story; that every teenager’s bravado can be fear in disguise; that love often looks like patience when you have none left, and gentleness when it would be easier to be sharp. Motherhood made me understand, in my bones, that the children entrusted to us at school are someone’s treasure - just as my own are mine.

And now - almost astonishingly to say out loud - life has given me a new title, one that feels both tender and triumphant: Nonna. I have already discovered that becoming a grandmother is its own kind of wonder - one of the most special names I have ever been called. I have two beautiful grandchildren, and the love I feel for them has opened a fresh chamber in my heart - an expansion I didn’t know was possible until it happened. 

Perhaps this is why my impending retirement at the end of the year feels less like an ending and more like a handing-over: a gentle shift from caring for generations of other people’s children to being able to pour love, time, and presence into the next generation of my own family. And I feel my parents are close to me in that thought - because they did that for me. They gave, they steadied, they showed up. They loved in the way that becomes a foundation. Holding that rosary on Friday, with their images nestled within it, I felt the truth of legacy: love is not lost; it is carried forward. And as I step into this next chapter, I do so with “mixed emotions”, but also with deep peace - because I know what matters most is waiting for me: family, faith, and the freedom to give my love differently now.

Leadership brought a different kind of responsibility again: the responsibility for culture, for care, for clarity. Leadership in a school is not simply a role; it is a weight you carry  often quietly - because you know the decisions you make ripple into classrooms, families, staffrooms, and young lives. It asks for courage, but it also asks for compassion. And I do believe motherhood shaped the leader I became: it trained my instincts towards empathy; it softened my judgements; it constantly reminded me that behind every behaviour is a story and behind every adult is a burden you may not see.

That is why last Friday landed so deeply.

Because standing in that liturgy at Rosehill Gardens, surrounded by mothers and sons, with music lifting the space and gratitude flowing so freely, I felt the layers of my life align for a moment: faith, family, vocation, memory. And seeing Antonella there - unexpected, luminous, present - felt like a small grace returned to me. A reminder that even when work has demanded much, love has still been growing in the background, waiting for the moments when it can step forward and say, “I’m here.” 

So, on this Mother’s Day, I am not reflecting on perfection. I am reflecting on grace.

Grace for the mothers who give more than anyone sees.

Grace for the women who mother in ways that aren’t always named or recognised.

Grace for the mothers we still have, and the mothers we carry in memory.

Grace for the privilege of being able to live a life where teaching and motherhood have woven together - sometimes painfully, often beautifully - into one long offering.

After 44 years, I don’t just look back on a career. I look back on a life filled with faces, stories, prayers, laughter, tears, second chances, and countless quiet acts of love. And today, with my parents close in my heart, my daughter’s presence still fresh in my mind, and my grandchildren calling me into the future, I can say this with all sincerity:

It has been an extraordinary privilege to be a teacher, a leader, a mother… and now, a Nonna.

Blessing for Mothers

For the first time, we can share photos from Mother’s Day with parents using Pixevity (photo database). The link is here: Pixevety - Mother's Day Mass & Morning Tea.

MMG Surveys 2026

As part of our continuous improvement process, I wish to offer all parents/carers, students, and staff opportunities to share their views of the College across a wide range of areas.

The research is being conducted by MMG Education, a specialist education consultancy that works with schools on strategic reviews and stakeholder satisfaction. MMG's client schools include many schools across Australia.

Parents and carers will be invited to complete questionnaires over a two-week period commencing on Monday, 11 May 2026. Staff and students will also complete their questionnaires during this period.

Last Monday, 11 May, MMG Education emailed you an invitation to participate in the review and provided you with your confidential, secure access to your questionnaire.

To ensure confidentiality and to encourage frank and full expression of views:

• All responses will be de-identified.

• The data will be reported back in aggregated form only.

All data collected by MMG Education will remain under its control and archived according to research protocols. The College will not be able to access it.

At the conclusion of the research period, MMG Education will provide me with a report. I will then provide opportunities for members of the College community to receive feedback from the research.

If you have any questions regarding the project, please contact my Executive Assistant, Cristina Polito, at cristina.polito@spc.nsw.edu.au.

I look forward to your valuable contribution to this important project by completing your questionnaire.

Community News

• Mr Tom Hogan has recently concluded his time at the College. We thank him for his contributions and wish him well. The Assistant Head of Science is currently being advertised, and in the interim period, Mr Paul Martin will be taking over Mr Hogan’s teaching load. Mr Martin is an experienced Science teacher who has specialised in senior Biology and Chemistry in several schools such as Marist College Kogarah, Bethany College Hurstville, Brigidine College Randwick and Ascham School in Edgecliff. He has been teaching with us casually this year and is well acquainted with our College culture.

   

• Mrs Maria Dolce has been appointed to the role of Acting Learning Enrichment Coordinator. She is well qualified and experienced for the role and I know she will be a valuable support to Mrs Sinadinos and her Diverse Learning Team.

   

• Mr Sam Nolan has commenced with our College this week as a PDHPE teacher. He will ostensibly take over Mr Chase’s classes when he leaves in a few weeks.

Dr Vittoria Lavorato

Principal

SPC boys can do anything! 

**except divide by zero