Deputy Principal

Welcome to 2025!

A warm welcome to our new and existing families as we commence another academic year. We are off and running.  My name is Michelle Licina and I am the Deputy Principal for Student Development and Wellbeing (Acting). I have the best job at Mt A guiding and nurturing our young people to be the best version of themselves in their academics and extra-curricular pursuits. It is wonderul to have our campus in full swing with students back in the classrooms and playgrounds. 

This image arrived in my inbox over the break from the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools of which we are a member. When I reflect on 2024 and the first few days of 2025, I see evidence of many of these statements along with work we need to do as a school to make every statement a reality for our students. We are very grateful you have chosen Mount Alvernia College for your child. Our staff truly strive for excellence for the teaching of girls in the Franciscan tradition.

Positive Partnerships

On Tuesday 28th January, families in Years 7 – 10 met with their Homeroom Mentor Teacher to commence the year with a warm welcome and to set goals for the year. It is not lost on the College Leadership Team for the commitments of this day: The planning by the teachers that commenced at the end of 2024 in the midst of their marking and reporting and a first day that commenced at 8:30am and finished at 5:30pm.  At the same time, families stepping away from their workplace during the day to sit alongside their child and engage in these meetings with us. The presence of the Year 11 ‘Big Sister’ to meet and greet the Year 7 student they are mentoring this year.  What a commitment! This year, we had record-breaking booking numbers in place that tells us there is an appetite for this partnership.  How good! You are encouraged to make contact with your Home Room Mentor Teacher in the first instance if you have any concerns or an extended absence due to illness or other.  

True Educational Wellbeing

One of the aspects of Mt A that I love the most – and there are loads – is that academics and wellbeing are not in separate silos. The curriculum and pedagogy we offer our students is intertwined with the attributes of a learner that will allow for a positive approach to learning, assessment, feedback and life. The Mount Alvernia Learner Framework is visible to all in our community. It is on page 16 of the Student Planner and features on the Academics Tile on MyMtA.

Our Student Services facility that I constantly refer to as the ‘Ed Well Centre’ houses our counsellors, Heads of House, Deans of Middle and Senior Outcomes, Learning Enhancement and Support and health centre.  The work environment and location allows for the needs of all our young people to be visible to the people that matter. This facility has been a hive of activity for weeks in the lead up to Day 1 to ensure all our new students and the network of care to support them was in place. I thank all the staff on Level 1 for the tireless work they give to our College.

Our Senior Motto and the word ‘Strive’ 

Towards the end of last year, our 2025 College Captains presented their senior motto to the College Leadership Team.  They wanted an impactful statement that included our Franciscan value of ‘joy’ and a meaningful word that rhymed with 2025.  So, ‘Hearts of Joy. Spirit to Strive.’ was borne. How timely that the word that rhymed was ‘strive’! The Cambridge definition advises that strive means to ‘try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a long time or against difficulties.’ What an apt word for our young people to see as they move around the College. For it our hope that, in our efforts to offer true educational wellbeing to our students, that ‘striving’ in all they do – even when it’s difficult and may take some time – builds their capacity to problem-solve or sit with discomfort for a bit in their pursuit of excellence.

Neale Daniher – Australian of the Year

You do not need to be an AFL fan to know the impact that Neale Daniher has had on the game including the young people he played alongside (three brothers included) and the ones he mentored as a coach. His resilience was first tested when, as the youngest skipper for Essendon at the age of 21, he was sidelined for the entire season due to a knee injury. This was the case for six of the next seven seasons. He never gave up.  Ironically, his repeated knee injury was not his biggest life obstacle. In 2013, Daniher was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). His life expectancy in then was 27 months – the average life expectancy for an MND diagnosis. 12 years later in 2025, Neale is still with us and has spent all this time tirelessly raising funds to allow research into a cure for MND because he felt he could and felt he should.  Over $115 million raised so far! While watching the Australian of the Year announcement, above all his achievements, it was this quote that connected with me the most. 

‘When all is said and done, often, more is said than done. The mark of a person is not what they say, it is what they do when it counts.’

It is so easy to make statements and to say what people want to hear.  It is something else to put our words into actions. So, my message to the Mount Alvernia College community at assembly this week was to not only say the word ‘strive’ or ‘I’m persistent’ or ‘I’m ready’ or ‘I’m aspirational.’ What will you do when it counts? What will you do to strive to ensure you are contributing to the ‘We. Not Me.’ culture. A culture we work so hard to achieve here in our academics, the wearing of our uniform with pride and our capacity to be kind to everyone we encounter. In our year of joy, I cannot wait to observe the positive actions of our community in our classrooms and on our playgrounds, sporting fields, courts and performance stages.

Every blessing for 2025 in our year of joy!

Michelle Licina

Deputy Principal Student Development and Wellbeing (Acting)