From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Well done to all our Year 12 students who are continuing to work consistently and confidently through their final examinations, edging ever more closely to the finish line! We also acknowledge the families, (& your biggest supporters alongside us!), who are working behind the scenes as your ‘pit crew’ - cheering you on, making you evening cups of tea and nutritious dinners to get you through. We are all so proud of the work that you are putting into these final assessments and are impressed by the quiet, calm and confident way in which you are approaching them. Keep going, you are nearly there!

Members of the College Leadership Team, Deans, Heads of House and I, have had the great pleasure these past couple weeks in hosting individual student mentoring meetings with our Year 11 cohort.  These meetings are designed to offer encouragement and support to our 11’s, in reviewing their year, and to share with them some predictive information regarding projected ATAR’s. From this, we have together considered further strategies that may assist in augmenting their Year 12 program next year. It has been a tremendous honour to spend time with our Year 11’s and to hear of their inspirational personal stories, their tenacity, their aspirations and of their pursuits beyond the school gates! They are a very impressive cohort, and all our staff, are looking forward to working with them as our student senior leaders in 2025.

This week we have a very important ‘spotlight’ on the slippery slope of school attendance. I encourage you to read our Deputy Principal of Student Development and Wellbeing, Ms Michelle Licina’s entry in this week’s newsletter. Increasing our overall school attendance from Term 4 into 2025, is not just an aspiration of ours, it is an imperative. Parents and Carers, we need your help!  In the most tangible way, we kindly ask you to refrain from booking holidays during the school term, or in the final weeks of term. Whilst the impact on learning and social connection may not be perceived as significant during the primary years, the same cannot be said of the secondary years – we are seeing firsthand the negative impact of poor school attendance at Mt A, and we need to change this. We thank you in advance for your assistance in this, moving forward. Please be in touch, if there are genuine barriers to increased attendance, conversation is key and is always welcomed and encouraged.

On Tuesday afternoon, we welcomed approx. 60 of our youngest Junior Wolves, our Year 3 prospective students and their parents for an afternoon of Science and Movement as part of La Luce, Primary Immersion program. It was a fabulous afternoon of engaging activities sparking curiosity and high energy! 

Our parents were hosted by members of the College Leadership Team in The Assisi Room and treated to a fabulous presentation by experienced GP, Dr Catherine Swanson, Mt A Alumnus and passionate and experienced advocate for adolescent health and wellbeing. Dr Catherine’s presentation offered wonderful tips for parenting our tweens and teens and proved a range of preventative and practical measures to optimise adolescent health, wellbeing, connection, and learning. 

In 2025, Mt A is committed to continuing our information sessions and presentations with our parent community on a range of relevant topics. If there is something that you are particularly interested in learning or hearing more about, please email Principal@mta.qld.edu.auwe are always keen to hear from our parent community!

I wish to thank the Parent Partnership Panel for their continued and generous sponsorship of the Frank Blanchard Bursary. Applications for this bursary are now open to (eligible) current Year 10 students. The bursary provides fee relief for the final 2 years of secondary study (Year 11 and 12) and further details on how to apply are linked here. 

Another week of tremendous College participation, engagement and spirit with our TOM STEM Team are currently in Sydney for the International Finals! We thank Ms Tonia Campbell and Ms Suzy Walker for mentoring and accompanying the team and the specialist input from Mr Pasang Tenzing, Ms Justine Hawkins, Mr Alex Bush, Mr Stewart Waldron, and Mr Sean McInerney. Of course none of this is possible without the coordination and facilitation of our Head of Student Engagement and Activities – Ms Claire Hatchman. You can read more about the our International TOM Team here. 

We also thank Mr Richard Rogusz and Ms Jen Clark for accompanying 6 of our students last weekend to the Bunya Mountains and Cherbourg Immersion experience. You can read more about this experience here. 

This Sunday, I look forward to presenting our 2025 College Captains to our Franciscan Community at Mass this coming Sunday at Little Flower Church, Kedron.  All in our community are welcome to join us, Mass commences at 7:30am.

On this first day of November, All Saints Day, let us remember the Saints that inspire us, those known and unknown to us, those living and those past.

“God of the generations,

when we set our hands to labour,

thinking we work alone,

remind us that we carry

on our lips

the words of prophets,

in our veins

the blood of martyrs,

in our eyes

the mystics’ visions,

in our hands

the strength of thousands.”

From: “God of the Generations” by Jan Richardson, in “Inspired: On the Feast of All Saints,” I wish you a peaceful week ahead.

Peace and all good,

Samantha