Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers, 

I would like to thank the College Leadership team for ‘holding the fort’ whilst I had the opportunity to take long service leave to visit World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal and the “Footsteps of Jesus” in the Holy Lands. 

Attending WYD was an amazing opportunity where, once every four years, young Catholic people from around the world come together to celebrate the impact of young people on the world.  This week provided the opportunity to gather as community, to worship together and to learn from each other.  The theme for this year was "Mary arose and went with haste".   

One of the highlights of the week for me was experiencing the amazing sense of community.  Every pilgrim group proudly carried their country's flag. Young people would stop each other to chat or sing and dance together.  There were over one million people who visited Lisbon for WYD. Across this week, despite our language barrier or our age difference, we had many opportunities to share.  At one mass I attended, 800,000 people were in the open together – no pushing, no shoving, people were sharing and considerate of each other. Each person was offering peace to others. It was an incredible display of community and love.   

I asked one young Canadian man how he had found the week. He replied that everyone was looking out for one another, everyone was trying to help those around them.  This summarised my experience - when we got lost, someone directed us;  when we had to sit on the ground, people offered their blankets for us to sit on; and when we were in the sun, umbrellas were offered.  

When we lined up with hundreds of others to see Pope Francis, some young Spanish pilgrims suggested I stand in front of them because I was shorter and wouldn’t be able to see him. A small but powerful gesture of care.

A very excited group of Portuguese youth told me that they were excited to welcome us to their home town, and they were trying to make sure everyone was cared for. I reflected on this and how we look out for each other in our community.  Would we be like those Portuguese young people looking out for others, thinking of others first, offering support?  Is our community one where we offer others peace and consideration? Where we think about what it might be like for all rather than what’s happening for me?  I posed this to students at assembly on Tuesday. I encourage you to speak with them about how we can emulate those Portuguese young people, showing awareness and support to those around us, especially beyond our friendship group. So at St Mary's we are people who notice, listen and care to ensure each person can feel loved. 

Fathers Day 

I offer my very best wishes to all fathers, grandfathers or father-figures in our community for a wonderful day and send our sincere thanks for their love, support, care and guidance in our lives. 

God bless,

Ms Kerry Manders 

Principal 

smw.principal@cns.catholic.edu