From the Principal
A very warm welcome to Term 4 and I hope everyone had the opportunity to spend some precious time with family and friends over the break.
We offer our new staff a very warm welcome to the College. In the Secondary School we welcome Alison Pattison to the English Faculty who will replace Adrian Sims during his long service leave this term and Donna Italiano to the Humanities and Social Science (HASS) Faculty, replacing Alison O’Connor during her long service leave during Term 4. We also welcome our new Gardener, Michael Symes to the College.
During the break, and for most of this week, our Year 12 students have been heavily involved in their Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) trial examinations. The trial examinations are our Year 12 students’ last internally assessable tasks and final formal feedback opportunity, before the students sit their WACE examinations commencing on 30 October. I extend my thanks to Shani Andrews, Greg Moran, Janeen Murphy and Rita de Faria and all of the Year 12 teaching staff involved in supervising the examinations, marking the scripts and providing the detailed and valuable feedback to the students. Our thoughts and prayers are with our Year 12 students during this time of transition, and we look forward to acknowledging their significant contribution to our College next week.
During the holiday break, the College was also represented at the World Scholars’ Cup at the Southport School on the Gold Coast in Queensland as part of the World Scholars’ Cup Global Round. I am pleased to report that all three participating teams qualified for the Tournament of Champions scheduled to take place in November at Yale University, USA. Congratulations to Chloe Bell, Catherine Gazia, Charlie Pronk, Jennifer Ong, Janelle Raman, Amelia Watts, Hunter Giles-Shanley, Sarah Macfarlane and Asha Paton. I extend my thanks to Daisy Farley, Jordan Webber and Kelli Beaton for generously supporting our participating students and providing them with this exceptional opportunity.
On 4 October, coinciding with the conclusion of the Season of Creation and commemoration of the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis released his much-anticipated apostolic exhortation on the environment, Laudate Deum (Praise God). Laudate Deum complements our engagement with Laudato Si and further nourishes our commitment to ecological justice.
One of the first published summaries of Laudate Deum can be read here.
Lastly, as we know, Australians will be asked to cast their vote tomorrow in the upcoming 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum. Our Ignatian tradition encourages us to value the importance of contemplation, discernment, and action. Discernment can guide us to listen attentively to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, engage in dialogue and discern how we can contribute to healing, justice and reconciliation in a manner that respects the self-determination and aspirations of First Nation communities. For Catholics, this is a remarkable opportunity to call upon our Catholic teachings to make an informed decision. In the words of Pope Francis, ‘
In our relationships with people, we must not lose the pastoral charity that should permeate all our decisions and attitudes. The defence of objective truth is not the only expression of this charity; it also includes kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness and encouragement. Therefore, we cannot be judges who only reject, deny and exclude.’
Daniel Mahon
Principal