Principal Natalie Charles

I tell anyone who’ll listen that I have the greatest job in the world and I mean it – a truth not lost on me this week as I bore witness to all the glorious strands that make up a day in the life at St Catherine’s!  

From watching our First VIII rowers earn first place in the sunshine at last Saturday’s Henley on the Yarra, to cheering our GSV triathletes in the pre-dawn light and drizzly rain on Altona Beach on the Sunday; from joining the Year 12 Boarders for pizza and YoChi on Glenferrie Road, to reading my favourite books about animals with the Preps in Barbreck; from being moved to tears by the musical soiree on Thursday afternoon in the Drawing Room, to welcoming back the pre-1971 Old Girls in the Ball Room, it’s been a week that has nourished my soul, which is exactly what a good education ought to do. Truth is, our Founder Jeannie Hood gifted us the clearest statement of purpose when she wrote of “an education not just for School but for life” and I can promise that in a myriad of ways, our girls are being prepared to flourish in their lives beyond the Heyington Gates.  

As a School community, we remain stridently and passionately committed to the ongoing education and empowerment of young women and it was rather beautiful to hear that position affirmed and amplified by the extraordinary women, many in their 80s, who attended the annual SCOGA luncheon. Gatherings of women for women transcend tenure, space and time. They find expression throughout Australia's history in dusty half-moon circles etched on ancient lands and of course in those glorious, intimate, beautiful friendships that nourish and sustain over the years. 

And whilst much has been achieved to ensure that female leadership and representation is a priority in boardrooms and courtrooms, Houses of Parliament and hospitals, there is still work to be done. Sure, the progress made by each generation moves us forward, creating even greater opportunities for the women that follow to succeed with fewer obstacles blocking their path. But this momentum for change is not always guaranteed.  

And just because we have lived through decades of generational change that has catalysed great progress, doesn’t mean that progress is necessarily assured; rather, it needs to be intentional. We must remember that we sit by fires we did not build, and drink from wells we did not dig.  

Make no mistake, every day that your daughters are here in this School, they are being prepared to take their rightful place in the field, at the table, on the summit, and in the laboratory so that they can make a contribution and tend the fire in order that others may take comfort from its warmth. The world needs them to engage the complex emergencies of our time, from global pandemics to systemic mistrust to geopolitical unrest – these are the ancient conditions of an ancient planet. But it’s worth noting (as Rebecca Solnit did) “that inside the word emergency is the word “emerge” and that from emergency new things come forth.  

And your daughters are both emerging and coming forth – as Sir Vincent Fairfax noted in 1983,

“Let us remember that the power and wealth of a democracy is measured not only by the number and quality of its eminent leaders but by thousands of ‘little’ leaders who provide its real strength.” 

I have hundreds of little leaders here in their light blue ribbons, ready. 

Ms Natalie Charles

Principal