Catholic Identity & Mission News

The relationships with our local parishes, St Agatha’s and St Thomas the Apostle, are critical as together, we bring the Good News of Jesus to our communities. On Tuesday, August 19, the Diocese of Sale hosted a ‘Clergy and Secondary Leaders Dialogue Day’ in Warragul. This was the second annual day of this nature, and it focussed on how parishes and schools could ‘…strengthen parish-school partnerships in building united and vibrant faith communities, committed to living the Gospel through shared mission, service, prayer and celebration’. Our College Principal, Chris Black, Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching, David Hansen, and I joined with our four parish priests, Fr Denis O’Bryan, Fr Jithin Anto, Fr Antony Rebelo and Fr Prabhu Antony to discuss what our College and parishes could do to achieve this goal. 

We were invited to consider what inspires how we want to lead; to think of the strengths and passions we bring to our distinct roles; and what possibilities could be achieved through our shared efforts. It was a wonderful day of listening, reflecting and planning and we established three very practical goals that we’re going to start working on straight away (so watch this space for news and updates!). Along with these new goals, what was also very gratifying about the day was that we could celebrate the achievements, close connections and events we already share. One example of this is the celebration of our House masses in our parish churches. The Clyde North Houses walk to St Thomas the Apostle for morning mass on the day of their Feast Day celebrations, while the Cranbourne students are bussed to St Agatha’s for mass later in the day. Our Student Liturgy Teams are instrumental in the coordination of these masses, and this youthful contribution is a great ‘reason for hope’ for both our College and our parishes. I always emphasise that ALL are welcome in these local churches for they are the parishes of St Peter’s College too. We are well aware of our diverse, multi-faith community but to take the time to be together in sacred space, to receive the Eucharist or a blessing, unites us in our shared Catholic education. 

We hope these experiences and relationships will continue to grow and our new goals certainly involve student input and voice. This year, our Student Executive have taken their influence and service to a new level, and hopefully this will inspire their successors to greater heights too. While we were in Warragul on Tuesday, our Year 11 students enjoyed their Leadership Day on campus and will now discern what contribution they can make to the school in their final year of studies in 2026. As I was unable to attend their sessions in person, I recorded a video for them, asking them to aspire to ‘servant leadership’. This leadership model is other-centred and is low-ego but high-impact. It aims to replicate Jesus’ humility and values. As voting and interviews take place over the coming weeks, I have every confidence that our students will ‘get it right’ and choose leaders who will lead by example and strive to serve to the best of their ability. 

As a celebration of ‘leading by example’, we were able to celebrate the achievements of the 2025 College Captains as they met with Bishop Greg Bennet on Thursday and shared with him, and the College Captains of the six other secondary schools in the Diocese, their successes and learning from this year. As part of this dialogue, Bishop Greg expressed his gratitude to our Captains – Stella, Selena, Vichit and James – for their service to the College and wider Church community this year. They have served with passion, commitment and great integrity and we have been so fortunate to have experienced their leadership this year. This meeting with Bishop Greg was a follow-up from an initial meeting in Term 4 last year and as we travelled to the event, there was mutual dismay at where that last 10 months had gone! As our next crop of leaders prepare to follow in their footsteps, we pray that they will appreciate, and make the most of, all the opportunities that both their school, and their local parishes offer.   

Ms Fiona McKenna

Deputy Principal – Catholic Identity & Mission