From the Principal

Moments of Discovery

At Creation, God made the world and everything in, on and around it. God made the seas and the lands, the animals and the birds, God even divided the light of day from the darkness of night. God created humanity and called them Man and Woman. 

As time over centuries passed, discoveries were made in all parts of the world and about everything from large to small. The 2025 College Theme of St Monica’s College, Epping is ‘Moments of Discovery’, an invitation to celebrate special times in your life, when all became clear to you. 

In 2025, we shall investigate and explore as a College community what it means to be a discoverer and be joyful that we took the risk and satisfied our curiosity. We shall seek to discover the answer to some personal questions such as, ‘Why was I born and to become what type of person?’ ‘How do I know when I am at home, at peace, secure in my environment, and, like prophets of old, called to minister to others in charity and love?’ At moments of discovery, answers will be found to these and other questions. 

In this College Theme we shall admire those who have discovered matters that affect us, those matters that lay hidden until someone decided to search and then find through discovery. Moments of discovery came for famous characters like Benjamin Franklin who discovered how to generate electricity, Leonardo Da Vinci who studied hard and just knew that natural flight by humans in machines was possible. Marie Curie discovered ways to heal, just like Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin to make people well again. We shall be invited to discover the type and nature of the work Monicans have done and will do to make this world a better and happier place. 

In 2025, we shall be blest through moments of discovery that teach us more about our faith. Just as the apostle, Bartholomew, discovered Jesus through fellow apostle Phillip’s urgings and thus also became an apostle; just as Mary and Joseph discovered the teenage Jesus teaching the wise elders in the temple; just like the taxman, Zacchaeus discovered the reality of Jesus’s Godliness, we shall discover more about Jesus at assemblies and in class. We will never miss those moments of discovery. 

We shall discover what it means to be a parent’s child, a sibling’s brother or sister, being a Monican at this College, our responsibilities as a team member, sport or musical partner, fellow squad representative, cast member on stage with other thespians, a member of a Home Room, Year Level, Campus and College. Through prayer and perseverance, we shall seek to discover the answers. 

At times we shall reflect upon the Monican Decade of Truth and the six Kingdom Values we proclaim – compassion, humility, generosity, forgiveness, peace, and love of neighbour, especially those hardest to love. Discover truth where it is hidden, find a meaning to life when it seems to be mysterious, explore the means to distinguish between truth and lies, truth and evil, truth and hatred. Those times will be special moments. 

At one moment in his life, astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969, and we too shall find ourselves walking along undiscovered pathways and tracks. Just as the miners one moment found gold on Victorian goldfields in the eighteenth century, we shall dig down black holes until we discover the light. In this Jubilee Year of the Church, we shall discover why hope is priceless and life-giving on all occasions. It will take effort and resilience, but we are Monicans once and always, and Monican moments have significance for us. 

Jesus told us, ‘I am The Way’. Together we shall reflect on the moment when we found the meaning and the beauty and security of that promise. Saint Monica eventually found her son, Augustine in Milan after enormous effort. What a special moment! We shall match her bravery, be inspired by her courage and faith, and be comforted always by our patron. 

Discovery of where we belong will bring enlightenment to us. Our journey towards discovery moments might take us to places unknown, possibly back to the heart of our family in a surprising way, imagination, creativity, risk, prudence, reflection and unity will be cornerstones as we discover where we belong. We shall be people who experience joy through discovery. 

Throughout our year in 2025 we shall discover where we belong as a community of Monicans and as an individual Monican. Those moments will warm our hearts. In harmony we shall discover surprises, shocks, secrets and serenity when our understanding grows. Strong and sturdy, sensible and smart. That is a great definition of being a Monican. 

Once the year commences, there will be no turning back. Our purpose is clear, we must continue to ask questions in order to find answers, and it will be our delight and duty to discover the joy of pursuing knowledge and understanding. 

Monicans must never be afraid to discover the present and prepare for the future. Prayer and Perseverance are our steering wheel and our propeller to keep us discovering. Unlike the women on Easter morning, we shall not discover an empty tomb because Jesus will be walking beside us every moment of every day in 2025.

B.E. Hanley OAM

B.A., Dip. Ed. Grad. Dip. Ed. Admin., M.Ed., MACE, FACEL

College Principal

NEW MOMENTS OF DISCOVERY FOR SMC 

The school siren sounded first for the Year 7 students at Epping on Friday, 31 January. A new moment of discovery dawned for the hundreds of new Monicans as they left behind their primary school years and embraced the journey ahead of them as secondary-aged scholars and Monicans. 

On Monday, 3 February the school siren sounded at both campuses at Epping and at 71 Whitelaw Street, Reservoir. So commenced the 2025 school year for our senior students attached to the Davisson Street Campus, all Year 9s, and half of the Year 8 cohort on Dalton Road Campus, and seven kilometres away at the St Stephen/Gaudete Campus, Reservoir for half of the Year 8 level. New moments broke out across the campuses and in the minds of thousands of Monican students and hundreds of Monican staff. 

Welcome to the 2025 school year when history is made once again with a fourth campus’s establishment at St Stephen/Gaudete Campus, formerly St Stephen’s Primary School, birthplace of the concept of St Monica’s College sixty-one years ago. 

With courage and dignity, the College made the decision to trial a new approach to expedite the learning of literacy and numeracy skills to a greater extend whilst offering an invigorating and joyful discovery program at SGC too. A semester but a lifetime of opportunity for Year 8 Monicans has begun. 

The vitality of youth will shine out from our Epping, Reservoir and Ostia campuses as moments of discovery become legendary stages of secondary education for St Monica’s College community members. Effective and vigorous learning with an emphasis on the academic will occur and multiply. Other means of being a recipient of a Catholic Education will become apparent daily and grow and develop through the years. 

Our School of Educational Enterprise reputation is well deserved and result driven, four campuses blest and ready to provide first quality, highest standard education unparalleled in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. 

A team of qualified, highly competent and mature staff have assembled or been appointed as newcomers in 2025. From each will emerge moments of discovery of talents, skills and positive relationships. The staff spreads across the vast areas of College life from classrooms to libraries, to co-curricular activities too numerous to list in this introductory column. Years of attained knowledge and oodles of fundamental skills come together as the staff plan, evaluate and provide an education distinguished by its diversity and accessibility for all. 

Resources and facilities are ready and raring to be used and enjoyed. Across the four campuses there is the beautiful whiff of freshness, newness, security, comfort and welcome. New works ring out at Davisson Street as the Year 12 MacKillop Centre is constructed for future Year 12 classrooms. 

Parents flood onto the College grounds to discover that their dream for their child is a reality. Parents are welcomed, encouraged to work closely with each other and staff, contribute to the continued growth and development of the College, and see themselves as they observe their child grow and mature. Monican alumni, you are indeed blest, and we welcome your return. New families are warmly embraced. 

As your Principal, I pray that 2025 will be a very exhilarating and happy one for all members of our Monican community. Let us work to ensure that love, unity and harmony flourish, learning is grasped, and prayer and perseverance reign. 

Mr B Hanley OAM 

Principal