Principal's Message

Mass of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Excellence

By their very nature, schools tend to 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 in our community gathering in acknowledgement of those boys consistently achieving 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 encouraged the boys to appreciate the gift of opportunity available to them and to deepen their appreciation of the Holy Spirit by likening it to the many forms of love, guidance and constant support that they experience in their own lives.

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. 

Earlier this week, at our scheduled College Assembly, we gathered as a college community to congratulate those students who demonstrated Academic Excellence throughout 2023, and to acknowledge those students who have earned Crown Awards for consistently demonstrating high levels of application, effort and engagement in their studies; and 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 2023 by recognising their outstanding academic achievements from last year. Twelve of our recent graduates were inducted in to the 97 Club in recognition of their achievements in the WACE Examinations. Our 2023 Head Prefect and Dux of the College, Joel Carcich addressed the assembly and challenged the boys to commit wholeheartedly in achieving their personal best in all facets of college life.

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, ideas 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