Deputy Principal

Student Voice, Leadership Aspiration and Gratitude

This image was created by a cartoonist during the International Coalition of Girls Schools Conference held in Philadelphia earlier this year.  The images and words are a collection from the keynote presentations.  It is on my office wall.  I stare at it often. It brings me a great deal of joy to be reminded of the privilege to lead student development and wellbeing at Mount Alvernia College – a school for girls in the Franciscan tradition. I have used this poster to guide my writing for this newsletter.

Using their voice to ignite change

This week, our 2025 Consiglio degli Studenti (Student Representative Council) met for the last time and officially disbanded in preparation for the 2026 Consiglio to be nominated and announced. This Council commenced in 2024 when it became very clear to us in 2023 that Mount Alvernia College was bursting at the seams with talented and aspirant leaders. With a representation of voice from each House and in each year level along with the Senior Student Leadership Team, this group of 44 students meets twice a term to bring concerns and ideas to our College leaders.  Much of the Consliglio work happens in House Teams for various Interhouse events and the coordination of Battle of the Houses in our Cultural Festival term. Consiglio welcome guests and future families at Open Day and Principal’s Tours. They liaise with students in their year level and House to act as their voice. 

At the end of 2024, 97 students applied for the 24 open positions (1 student per House per year level across Years 7 – 10). Last week, I am delighted to advise that 134 students have applied for the open positions to be a member of Consiglio! This affirms what I already know to be true: the young women of Mount Alvernia College want their voices heard and are aspirant, servant leaders within our community. It gives me goosebumps when I think about this aspirant appetite for leadership and what is in store for our world when Mount Alvernia College students graduate each year.

While Consiglio is one formal way we harness student voice, the second way is our ‘Tell Them From Me’ Survey that was conducted during Personal Best lessons this week. This independent and confidential online survey asks all students in Years 7 to 11 about the year of academics, goals, possible careers, further study, friendships, wellbeing and extracurricular involvement using a range of questions that gives us a firm pulse check on how our girls are feeling about school, themselves and life. We expect to receive the results in December and will share with our community in 2026.

Girls & Teachers Inspire a Positivity Loop

Last Friday, our College celebrated World Teachers' Day. We really are lucky to have such an exceptional group of educators.  This has been brought to light over the last weeks as EVERY Year 11 student is participating in a ‘Growth & Improvement’ meeting with a member of our College or Extended Leadership Team at this halfway point in their senior journey and prior to the commencement of the Internal Assessments (IAs). When I spoke to the students assigned to me, they spoke with great confidence about their willingness and comfort to ask their teacher or help when they have difficulty with concepts. Many receive 1:1 support over a sandwich at lunch. They truly admire their teachers. We asked our students, as a moment of gratitude, to write a note of thanks to the teacher/s who have supported them on their education journey. Staff pigeonholes were filled with heartfelt notes. 

We know through evidence-based research that moments of gratitude re-train our brains to feel happier. When we regularly look for and cogitate on good things that happen to us, our brains start scanning the world for positives rather than negatives. When girls and teachers work together, magic happens. We also thank the Parent Partnership Panel for their generous gift of a coffee shout from La Cucina for every staff member. This has brought our teaching community endless joy! We also thank them for publishing Staff Shout Outs from our parent community to our teachers. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this publication. Your words mean a lot in a sector where gratitude really is in decline. You can enjoy reading these Staff Shout Outs below. 

Confidence is Contagious

In our year of Franciscan Joy, it is truly a joy to watch our students grow and flourish. It is the time of year where teachers start to take a moment for personal pride in our good work as our girls finish their year with new knowledge, skills and confidence in their abilities, both inside and outside the classroom. It is part of our holistic commitment to educational wellbeing.

And, may I leave you with this image. Thank you for choosing Mount Alvernia College for your daughters. I’m so glad to know them.

Every blessing,

Michelle Licina 

Deputy Principal Student Development and Wellbeing