From the Principal

I read recently that Oxford University Press (OUP) has named ‘friend’ as Oxford’s 2024 Australian Children’s Word of the Year (CWOTY), reflecting how Australia’s primary school children seem to value deeper connections with people, despite being more digitally and globally connected than any generation before.

Using data collected through the online program Writing Legends (which aims to improve students’ writing skills), OUP analysed 25,600 primary school children’s stories. It found students are writing more about the value of their relationships with family and friends, the complexities around friendships, and the way they relate to others.

Words such as ‘friend’, ‘hope’, ‘love’, ‘play’ and ‘game’ all appeared in higher frequencies in 2024 compared to 2023, with associated words such as ‘companion’, friendship, and ‘bestie’ experiencing significant increases in usage.

Lee Walker, Director of Publishing at OUP, highlighted the themes in this year’s research findings: 

‘It was clear that connection was at the heart of students’ stories.’ 

This week, our Year 5 students challenged themselves during their adventure camp and our Year 7 students enthusiastically participated in their three-day St Omer Experience, which is a significant component of the College’s Year 7 transition program. 

But why St Omer?

For background, St Omer lived in northern France in the 6th Century, establishing the French, predominantly Catholic town now known as Saint-Omer. It was in the early 1600s that one of our Founders, Mary Ward, spent time in Saint-Omer. Over the course of four years, Mary Ward travelled to and from Saint-Omer, which, at the time, was growing with Catholic refugees fleeing persecution from former King Henry VIII’s forever changed England. For Mary Ward, this was a troubling time; a time of great introspection and searching. It was also a time of revelation, a time of great clarity, clarity about the need for a counter-cultural response to religious life and education. Underpinning this clarity was the revelation that ‘service’ should be the hallmark of her newly established charism and to truly be ‘of service’, connection with community was paramount.

It is with this in mind, then, that our Years 5 and 7 students fully embraced the opportunity to build relationships and deepen connections. Perhaps words such as ‘friend’, ‘hope’, ‘play’, ‘game’, ‘companion’ and ‘friendship’ appeared in high frequency throughout their time together too.

Someone else who deeply understood the importance of service and community connection was Sr Mary Wright ibvm, former Loreto Province and Institute leader. Mercia Richards, Mary’s Community Leader, wrote these words to the province Sisters last Saturday:

Mary died this morning just before dawn.

She is now at peace, free from all illness.

May Mary now be received into God’s loving embrace,

and may we find comfort in one another as we mourn her going. 

May Mary Rest in Peace.

Please find a beautiful tribute to Mary attached.  Chair of Council, Dr Courtenay Harris, and I will represent the College at the funeral next Tuesday, and we continue to keep Mary’s family and all of our Loreto Sisters in our prayers at this time of great loss. 

Daniel Mahon

Principal