Principal

Dear  Members of the Academy Community,

Welcome to Term 2!  As usual it will be a very busy term, but one that has begun on a very positive note with over 2500 Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences having taken place over a two day period.  These Conferences are vital in acknowledging student achievement thus far and identifying actions and goals for the future.   Thank you all for your contribution  to the success of these conversations.  I know our students will now move forward, focused on their learning and with a positive mind set.

All schools are busy places and Academy is no exception.  Just a couple of recent and forth coming  events to highlight:

Year 12 Formal – This was a wonderful occasion.  Our Year 12 students entered into the spirit of the night and celebrated this rite of passage well.  Our students received accolades from teachers and from the venue authorities for their excellent participation in all aspects of the evening.  Some schools need to worry about behaviour on a night such as this.  It is not something that concerns us,  as our students, on these nights and on other occasions, embody the Mercy spirit and act in accord with Mercy Values.   Academy girls are always respectful and appreciative.

Mothers’ Day Mass – This important event will take place on Thursday, 7 May.  A number of Mothers have made the comment that, across the course of the year,  this is the school event that they love the most.  It is indeed an important event providing the opportunity to both thank and pray for Mothers.  The Chapel, of course, is such a fitting venue for this occasion.  All Mothers are welcome to attend this evening with your daughters.  The Mass is scheduled for 7.00pm.

I would also like to pay tribute to the Senior Student Leadership team – what  an amazing team they are!!  They work together as a group, divide up the tasks and always have endless ideas to improve processes.  Following on from the recent College Conversation  with its focus on “Courage to Care,” the  Senior Student Leadership Team highlighted the need to involve our middle school students in more events and to provide them with more responsibilities.   But rather than just stating this at the Conversation and then moving on without following up, our student leaders came to the first meeting of the term armed with a way forward which they believed  would  promote and enable more engagement from and opportunities for our middle school students.

Our plans for our 170th Celebrations continue to evolve.   Some of the events and activities we have planned for next year are as follows:

• 28 February 
  • Past Pupils Luncheon and Reunion - Luncheon will be at the Park Royal with the Academy being opened before the luncheon.
  • Key note speaker – the Hon Ged Kearney (Federal Member of Parliament, Cooper) 

• 20 April 
  • 170 years Foundation Day Mass - followed by morning tea at Academy
  • 170th logo/badge - designed by a student in the Visual Arts class
  • 170th  Artwork – Sculptor appointed – Jenny Steiner.  Jenny is currently working on the project that has been commissioned

2027 will not only be a special year for Academy, it is also a special year for the Sisters of Mercy across the world with the first House of Mercy being established by Catherine McAuley in 1827.  Thus, 200 years of lived Mercy.   So much to celebrate!

And finally, over the past weeks as our world is racked by violence, war and discord, I find myself thinking about the Artemis II astronauts and what they must have witnessed looking back at our Earth from space — a world without borders, undivided by politics or geography, simply whole and connected.  May that image stay with us.  We pray for wholeness, not division; for cooperation, not discord; for peace, not conflict.

Every Blessing.

Sr Mary Moloney rsm 

Principal