Principal's Message

Mass of the Holy Spirit and The Spirit of Excellence

From year to year, schools host many and varied assemblies, presentations and events. In the first few weeks of this year, we have celebrated two very significant College events. The first, centred around the celebration of the Eucharist, and the second saw our community gather in acknowledgement of those boys who have consistently achieved excellence. Both clearly pointed to our identity as a Catholic school community and highlighted the aspirations we have for our boys to strive for personal excellence while at school. 

Last Friday, our entire College gathered for the Mass of the Holy Spirit – our Opening Mass for this academic year. The boys deserve much praise for the way they presented on the morning and for their reverent participation throughout our celebration, despite the very hot conditions! It was also lovely to welcome the many parents who joined the students and staff for our Eucharist celebration.

It says much about our place as a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition that we begin our academic year in communion, sharing the Eucharist and praying for God’s blessing on our endeavours. It demonstrates great strength and potential in our unity as a College Community whereby we can share in our commitment to live out Gospel values and seek the best for the students in our care. As part of his Homily, Fra Oscar spoke about the importance of belonging to a supportive College community and being open to the Holy Spirit. In referring to the First Reading from St Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 12: 3-7,12-13), he emphasised this message, “… There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people…” 

As part of our opening Mass, we had the very special honour of formally commissioning our new Staff. The ceremony allowed Staff members new to the College, and those who joined our community during the past year, to receive a blessing and be presented with a candle symbolising their important role as models and mentors - of ‘lighting the way’ for our students. Our assembly then joined in prayer seeking the Holy Spirit to gift all staff and all students, a passion for learning, a heart for engagement, the wisdom of accountability and a commitment to Christian discipleship. 

Then, earlier this week at our scheduled College Assembly, we gathered as a community to congratulate those students who demonstrated Academic Excellence throughout 2024. We also acknowledged those many students who earned Crown Awards for consistently demonstrating high levels of application, effort and engagement in their studies; repeatedly achieving Pinder Boor Certificates of Excellence in recognition of their outstanding Attribute Point Average (APA). It was a wonderful celebration of student achievement with over 200 students being recognised for their outstanding achievements and their demonstration of excellence.

Importantly, we were able to celebrate students from our Leaving Class of 2024 by recognising their outstanding academic achievements from last year. Eleven of our recent graduates were inducted in to the 97 Club in recognition of their achievements in the WACE Examinations. Our 2024 Dux of the College, Matthew Ryan addressed the assembly and challenged all boys to “… find what you are passionate about and commit yourself wholeheartedly to achieving your best as the levels you reach will be known by you – put in the hard work and you will be rewarded”.

In celebrating the talents and achievements of the many boys recognised for these particular awards, the challenge remains for each and every student to share their particular talents and to strive for excellence in what they do. Put simply, all students are challenged to give their best. To do anything less than their best will not be enough! Whether a boy’s talents, efforts and pursuit of personal excellence is in the area of their Academic studies, the Arts, Sport, Christian Service or other areas of college life, the fact remains, that success will require a commitment to work hard, a clear desire to engage and learn, and it will require genuine application to the task. All things that each and every student is capable of.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge and congratulate the students who have consistently applied themselves, willingly shared their gifts and achieved personal excellence. Let us celebrate those students who have demonstrated a Spirit of Excellence within our school with a hope that every student can personally commit themselves to achieving personal excellence in the future.

Live Jesus in our hearts

Mr Darren O’Neill 

Principal