From the Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Friends of St Norbert College,

Today we celebrate the Feast of St Augustine, the saint whom our College patron, St Norbert admired and followed. We take from St Augustine, in relation to schools and education, a belief that students be given the opportunities to apply what they have learned as theory in practical works and experiences.

I feel that the Christian Service Learning program here at St Norbert College, under the coordination of Ms Margaret Kyd, is a wonderful example of the opportunities afforded to our students to learn, then live and apply our Catholic faith in action.

There were two examples recently that I would like to focus on that I feel demonstrate this. The first was our recent Staff Professional Development day, the focus being Christian Service as part of our Faith Formation program. 

The day began with prayer and a keynote address from Dr Shane Lavery, a Christian Brother who coordinates the social justice studies at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle. Dr Lavery directed us to reflect on the service that, we as staff in our College, share for the benefit of our students and families. Of significant note was that we regularly display life-giving virtues in our day-to-day interactions with members of our community.

A very special element of the day followed was witnessing a number of our staff sharing with their colleagues, the service experiences they had participated in, including the Kimberley, Indian or Indonesian immersions. It was clear that such experiences have an incredible and lasting impact on our staff and as they described, with our students too.

The second example flows from this, with the next Kimberley Immersion to commence in a little over two weeks from now. I was immensely proud to be approached by Holly Giles (Year 10) for permission for her family to honour her late and much loved uncle Brett Claudius, in a service that he started and held so dear in the Kimberley, namely the collection of used football boots to be shared amongst the poor and marginalised in  the north of our state. I’m sure many in our community have seen the article in last weekend’s Sunday Times newspaper. This generosity of spirit, the sharing of a dream and the motivation to do good for others, exemplifies what St Augustine, St Norbert and all the saints have espoused for centuries. I encourage our families to check your sheds and cupboards at home for any football boots that are no longer of use, drop them off at our College and Holly and the team can take them on the immersion to be shared with the people in the communities up there.

As another well-known saint, Saint Francis of Assisi, claimed, “for it is in giving that we truly receive” and if the actions, the commitment and the generosity of the staff, students and families of St Norbert College are any indication, the willingness to serve others is alive and well.

I ask you to continue to pray for those who go without, for those poor and marginalised and I ask that we continue to consider the positive impact we can have on the lives of others. We can, and the actions of those in our community prove that we do, make a difference.

God’s blessings to you all.

Mr S Harvey (Principal)

Congratulations to Mrs Kaye Savage-Morton

The St Norbert College community extends our heartfelt congratulations to Mrs Kaye Savage-Morton, the current Assistant Principal at St Joseph’s next door. We were informed recently that Mrs Savage-Morton has been appointed the Principal of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Moora commencing in 2021. We feel this is a wonderful acknowledgement of the leadership, expertise and faith that Mrs Savage-Morton has shared with the students of St Joseph’s here in Queens Park, as well as dedicated service to Catholic Education Western Australia over many years.

In advance of this next exciting chapter, we wish Mrs Savage-Morton our best wishes and God’s continued blessings in her ministry of leadership.