Principal's Report

Dear Parents and Carers

We conclude Term 3 at Monivae by raising funds through our Mission Fair Day.  As a Catholic and MSC school, we are called to care for those at the margins and in need.  The money raised at this event and throughout the year supports numerous MSC outreach programs and projects, such as water treatment and filtration systems in third-world communities.  Our community contribution makes a significant difference to many lives.

As a father of two young adult women, Father’s Day is particularly special for me.  They make me feel very loved and are grateful for the life my wife and I have provided for them. Days like Father’s Day remind us of the important role adults play in shaping young lives. Of course, ours are not the only voices our young people hear.  Just this week, the response by women athletes across the world to denounce Sydney Sweeney’s ad campaign and the sexualisation of women in sport was swift and powerful.

For some time, the media has paid considerable attention to the influence of the ‘manosphere’ on boys and young men, including its potential impact in Australian schools. This is an important conversation and one that deserves careful consideration.  At the same time, the troubling behaviour of some should never become the story we tell about an entire generation of young men.

It is also important to say clearly that this does not reflect my experience of the overwhelming majority of boys and young men at Monivae.  Each day, I see young men demonstrating respect, kindness, generosity and genuine care for others.  Those expectations are ultimately the same expectations we hold for every young person at Monivae.  Our task is to keep calling them towards respect and genuine connection with others, towards lives marked by belonging, love and hope for the future.  We want our students to understand that every person they encounter has inherent dignity and worth, and that the way they choose to speak to, speak about and treat another person matters.

This matters deeply because learning is fundamentally relational.  It depends upon relationships between teachers and students, among students themselves, and upon the partnership between families and school.  These relationships require trust, dignity and mutual respect.  Ideas or attitudes that diminish another person, for any reason, have no place in our school community and undermine the relationships upon which good learning depends.

Our Monivae culture is sustained each day by young people who demonstrate kindness and respect, and by staff who care deeply about their students and their learning. Maintaining it requires us to keep teaching and modelling respectful relationships, to be clear about the standards we expect, to respond when words or behaviours diminish another person, and to recognise the shared responsibility we each have for others' experience.  In this way, we seek to ensure that every student can learn, and every staff member can undertake their work, in an environment characterised by dignity, respect and a genuine sense of belonging.

Enterprise bargaining update

The Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) has been negotiating for a new cooperative agreement on behalf of 34 Catholic education employers, including our school, since early 2025.

VCEA and Catholic school employers have made a third offer to the Independent Education Union (IEU), aiming to reach agreement on new wages and conditions for Catholic education staff by mid-November.

The new offer confirms our long-standing commitment to pay parity with the State Government sector, allowing for pay rises of up to 32.4 per cent (compounded figure), depending on the role, over four years, and includes further allowances and lump sum payments introduced in the recent in-principle Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA).

Catholic school employers strongly support higher wages and improved conditions for staff.  This offer will make Catholic education staff among the best-paid in the country and includes nation leading measures to support workload management.

We also want to be open about the challenges that come with delivering the EBA across the Catholic sector.

While these changes will be government-funded in state schools, Catholic schools will not receive additional government funding commensurate with the additional cost.  The cost will need to be supported through our usual budget and planning processes.  The College recognises the cost-of-living pressures on families; as such, Monivae College has decided not to increase school fees beyond the minimal amount determined each year. 

In addition, Catholic schools are operating in an environment of increased Australian Government compliance and integrity requirements with respect to funding for students with disability.

We are working through those processes very carefully to ensure we are well placed to support our staff, students and the school community into the future.

Our focus on delivering a high-quality Catholic education for every student is unwavering.

We thank the outstanding teachers and staff at our school for the expertise, hard work and care they bring to our school community. 

I look forward to providing further information as negotiations progress.

Springtime Prayer

Lord God,

in this time of longer, warmer days, soft rains, and gradual greening,

we recognise anew that we are surrounded by your gifts.

Winter gives way to spring, darkness gives way to light,

and dormancy gives way to new life.

Hear our prayer of praise and gratitude,

remembering especially those who cultivate the land,

those who plant and gather,

who feed our vast nation and peoples.

Amen.

I wish you and your loved ones a safe, restful and well-deserved break.

Mr Jonathan Rowe

Principal