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2010s

2010 was marked by the sad passing of our dearly beloved colleague and friend, Shane Cormick, an inspirational man of strength and gentleness. Shane died on June 6, and many current and past staff and students attended his funeral Mass in Blackburn. It was particularly poignant to me when Loretta played a piano piece from which he had taken great joy. I’m sure he would have been delighted to know that his children, Loretta and Anthony, ended up on the Kilbreda staff.

Widely held in great esteem for his no-nonsense and practical approach to things, Shane occupied a number of positions of responsibility throughout his time here. He was a dedicated teacher of Accounting and homeroom teacher to many,  as well as being at various points Year Level Leader, bursar and Assistant to the Principal.

In 2011, James Tian joined the College as Business Manager, and a Building Committee was formed to investigate future projects which resulted in the Kildare Centre and Auditorium a few years later.

Kilbreda was once again rocked by the death of one of our community in the person of Sr Denise Allen. Sr Denise, who had been a student here along with her sisters, attended the Brigidine Teacher Training College and was then appointed to Stella Maris. She then entered the Brigidine Novitiate in 1962. Denise was on staff here in the 1980s and also had a stint in Vera Cruz, in Mexico. From this association, Denise loved the Mexican style of dress and often wore ponchos and other very distinctive pieces. A piece of artwork reminiscent of her visit is displayed at the top of the stairs near Room 64. Denise was always full of life and loved a joke and was rarely seen without a beaming smile on her face. On her door was a sign, which read: “Jesus is coming. Look busy!”

Visits to Timor Leste and Balgo continued in 2013, and an assembly was held to welcome and listen to the inspirational Moira Kelly, who took time out of a very busy schedule to share her experiences with us. Caoimhé Conlon was College Captain in 2013 and I’ve always found it a fun fact to share that her name appears on two boards in Kilbreda’s Hall; interestingly, her very difficult Irish Christian name is spelt correctly and yet Conlon appears on one side of the hall with and ‘a’ and on the other with an ‘o’. I’ve never thought to correct it, as I enjoy retelling that story!

Kilbreda’s 110th birthday was celebrated in August 2014, with a memorable cocktail party for past students and staff in the Mary Dalton Hall, which was adorned with fairy lights, creating a surreal and intimate atmosphere. A wonderful birthday cake, complete with a Kilbreda Tower, was cut by Sr Lia to mark the occasion. Another celebration in March, was the launch of Kildare Ministries, a “formal and solemn launch of a new Church entity that has been established by the Brigidine Congregation of Australia and joined by some ministries of the Presentation Sisters”. 1

On National Sorry Day, a banner was hung from Kilbreda tower and Delany, with my dear daughter Julia at the helm, made a clean sweep of the trophies at the sporting carnivals! Another important trophy visited Kilbreda that year; the Melbourne Cup, which I had the great pleasure to hold (with special gloves on!)

In 2015, we farewelled Grace Coelho, after many years' involvement with the school. A much loved staff member for more than 20 years, Grace had come to KIlbreda as a boarder in 1946. After her retirement, she was a founding member of the Kilbreda Stewardship Council and remained connected through involvement in the Past Pupils’ Network Committee until 2015. Grace often came back to speak to the Year 12s about her time here as a boarder in the 1940s. Past pupil Helen (Brockway) Wilson, was inspired to write a poem about the iconic tower which was published in our Annual in 2015 and sits beside a photo of her at the entry to the tower. “The vision of Kilbreda’s Tower, will ever lead us home”. 2

The Kildare Centre, under construction for much of 2015, was finally opened by Maree Marsh csb, Co-Chair of Kildare Ministries Trustees and blessed by Fr Peter Matheson on 3 December, 2015. This was Mary Stack’s final official act as Principal of Kilbreda before retiring.

A very memorable Brigidine Day saw the whole school travel to Luna Park in St Kilda to celebrate the day. The centenary of Gallipoli was celebrated with a Mass and display of memorabilia relating to soldiers with connections to students and staff. A huge banner was displayed covering most of the tower, the whole project coordinated by Humanities Leader Carolyn Callaghan. Former student, Tamara Prins, now in the Australian Navy, was guest speaker.

In 2016, we welcomed Co-Principals for the first time at Kilbreda, Mrs Teresa Lincoln and Ms Nicole Mangelsdorf. Other Brigidine Colleges had adopted the model prior to Kilbreda doing so. An upshot of this was the idea of appointing Co-College Leaders, which began in 2017, with Rebecca Ambler and Gabrielle Deres. The Kildare Centre was used for the first time and we were visited by Auxiliary Bishop Peter Ellliot, who, along with Fr Peter, presided at the Opening School Mass, which featured the Commissioning of the Co-Principals.

In 2017, the Past Pupils of Distinction Dinner was held in August, bringing an idea which had been some time in the making to fruition. Nominations were called for from the wider College community and four inductees selected. Carol Gaston, who had received an AM for her services to Nursing; Professor Judith Kinnear, the author of ‘The Nature of Biology’ and former Vice Chancellor of Massey University NZ; Doctor Mayumi Purvis, a former student of mine and lecturer in Criminology at the University of Melbourne and The Honourable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Marilyn Warren AC.

Mr Anthony Cormick was instrumental in the commissioning of the FIRE Carriers (Friends Igniting Reconciliation through Education, who created our original acknowledgement of country statement. We were joined in 2017 by Assistants to the Principal  Stephanie Smyth, Wayne Murrill and Catherine Johnson as Kilbreda farewelled Joanne Kanigowski, Brian Ellett and Louis Papadimitiou from these roles.

The theme for 2018 was Hope. This was brought home to us by Fr Timothy Radcliffe in a Staff Spirituality Day, involving staff from a number of colleges in our newly opened Auditorium. On Monday 15 October, a celebration was held to open and bless the new Auditorium. Fr Michael McEntee led the blessing ceremony and Sr Maree Marsh and Rosemary Copeland, Co-Chairs of Kildare Ministries Trustees, officially opened it. A concert involving some talented past and present students was held and refreshments enjoyed in the neighbouring Kildare Centre. A ceremony transferring the ownership of land from the Brigidine Sisters to Kildare Ministries was held and later in the year, the school community was saddened to learn of Mrs Teresa Lincoln’s decision to leave Kilbreda.

Fortunately, as Principals’ Advisor, Mrs Lincoln works locally and has joined us on a number of occasions this year. At one of those, the Mass to celebrate our 115 years, she blew out the candles on the birthday cake with other former Principals, Sr Angela Ryan, Sr Helen Toohey and Miss Mary Stack. 2018 marked the end of the former uniform, with Emily Davis wearing the old uniform to the end. This year, for the first time in a long while, Kilbreda students should all be wearing the same uniform!

In 2019, the WellBeing Centre was opened and two new positions created for the wellbeing of students at Years 7 to 9, Ms Sue Grima, and Years 10 to 12, Ms Amanda Flynn.

Notes 1 Annual 2014

2 Annual 2015

Damian Smith

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