Mother's Day Breakfast 

Celebrating our Mothers 

Our Mother’s Day Breakfast on Friday 10 May was a wonderful acknowledgement of mothers and mothering in our community. Over 230 members of our community gathered to celebrate and give thanks for all that they bring to us personally and to the community.  It was particularly special to have a number of families with three generations of women present.

Throughout the breakfast our students paid tribute to their ‘mothers’ through a range of mediums and recalled how it is precious moments like today that remind us of the unconditional love that exists between a mother and her daughter.

Our guest speaker was Katrina Richardson, who is a Clinical Family Therapist with extensive experience in youth mental health and family therapy. Katrina spoke about the importance of the connection between mother and daughter, how the relationship changes as the daughter develops and what daughters need from their mothers during the different stages of their lives.  One of the many examples she gave was the importance of letting the girls experience disappointment (e.g. not being selected for a sports team) and navigate through friendships issues etc. Such experiences help them to build resilience, which will serve them well in life.  If we protect them from such experiences or step in to resolve challenges that arise for them, it may lead to a lack of resilience. 

As Michael Grose, one of Australia's most respected experts on parenting says ‘Promoting personal resilience focuses on helping kids cope with life’s hurts, disappointments and challenges in the present, while building strengths for the future.’  The Parenting Ideas website (www.parentingideas.com.au) provides a range of wonderful resources for parents and carers.

Nicole Mangelsdorf

Principal