Year 9

Jesus said to her,

‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.

The water that I will give will become in them

a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’

The woman said to him,

‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty

or have to keep coming here to draw water.’

John 4:13-15

Our bible, especially the Christian Scriptures, is full of metaphors. The biblical narrative begins with the Creation stories in Genesis featuring a garden, a forbidden apple and a snake, and finishes with the sometimes frightening images contained in the book of Revelation, with dragons, a lamb, a bride and the often misunderstood reference to Emperor Nero using the numerical Hebrew code of 666. In between, we have the images of water, mountains, deserts, clouds, the fig tree, the vine and the branches etc. In the passage above from last Sunday’s gospel, again water serves as the metaphor for the evangelist’s message.

The woman is the key figure in the passage. She speaks to Jesus as an equal, she breaks down the social barriers between a Jew and a Samaritan, and the barriers between a man and a woman in the first century. She receives the message from Jesus that true worshippers must worship in spirit and truth (v. 23).  This message is worth considering at the College as we prepare for some difficult and challenging times ahead.

In many ways, the unnamed ‘woman at the well’ is a role model for the Year 9 girls at the College. She is confident, assertive and honest. Indeed, John affirms the woman’s role as an apostle later in the story when he writes that many Samaritans in her village believed in Jesus because of her testimony. 

Testimony can be in words and actions, and recently some Year 9 girls have given witness to their gifts and talents in powerful, yet humble ways.

Firstly, congratulations to the following Year 9 girls who were successful in earning a place in the cast for Aladdin Jr, the 2020 College production:

Bianca Anderson, Ava Busuttil, Andeana Campos, Eliza Charleston, Loghan Cross, Amelia Dale, Olivia Davies, Lily Diaz, Vali D’Souza, Lucy Fitzgerald, Caitlin Gellie, Alicia Henry, Jemima Hollingsworth, Yuhan Huang, Rachel Jones, Caitlin Kitto, Sienna Koop, Lulu McCartney, Michaela Meyer, Brianna Smith and Mia Wilson.

Well done to those girls and we wish them well as they work hard under the guidance of their teachers to prepare a fabulous production.

Congratulations also to Rachel Jones and Sienna Quill who were dancers at the Women’s T20 World Cup Final, and supported Katy Perry during her concert. By all accounts, they went a long way to keeping the huge crowd entertained and for making Katy look good during her show!

Finally, many thanks to all the Year 9 girls who contributed to the success of the House Swimming Carnival on 28 February. Events such as this go a long way to building spiritual capital; the thing that makes us distinctive and builds what we may call ‘school spirit’. School spirit is created by enthusiasm, passion and teamwork – and these were in abundance in the pool and amongst the appropriately raucous supporters.

Let’s hope that during the mysterious times ahead that we at our College can be a school of spirit and truth, that our community is full of spirit and truth and that, most importantly, that our students support each other with spirit and truth. That is a living water that Jesus speaks of, and may it sustain us always, but especially now.

Bill Fitzsimons

Level Leader: Year 9