From the Principal

During the week, I have been privileged to represent the College at both Jesuit Principals’ and Loreto Principals’ meetings, with the former taking place in Auckland, New Zealand and the latter in Ballarat Victoria. My representation is based on the close links our College has with both Loreto and Jesuit schools across Australia and now New Zealand. For the benefit of new parents, John XXIII College is both a Loreto Associate school and a Jesuit Companion school, stemming from our own rich Loreto and Jesuit heritage. 

Our heritage of course is the 1977 amalgamation of St Louis’ School for Boys and Loreto Claremont (an all-girls school) into our own coeducational John XXIII College. As such, our students have benefited from an educational model designed to develop well-rounded graduates equipped with the understanding and skills necessary to make a valuable contribution to an increasingly interconnected, complex and diverse world; a world requiring a generation of leaders capable of navigating these complexities with empathy, understanding and a global perspective.

At the time of writing, the Loreto 150 year Celebration is in full swing at Loreto College Ballarat in Victoria, the first Loreto school established in Australia in 1875. Commencing with an Opening Mass celebrated by Fr Justin Driscoll, followed by the viewing of the Travelling Exhibition, featuring our very own designed garment representing John XXIII College, followed by the Mother Gonzaga Barry Play, Serious Business and concluding with a Gala Cocktail Event.

Earlier in the week I represented the College at the Jesuit and Companion Schools (JACSA) event held at St Ignatius Catholic College Auckland in New Zealand. Being the most recent addition to the JACSA network, the event commenced at St Ignatius Catholic College with meetings with Fr Jose Mesa SJ, the International Secretary of Education of the Society of Jesus, followed the next day by a Pōwhiri, which is a cultural welcome and Mass with the whole school, and series of meetings with Principals and Rectors from Jesuit and Companion schools from across Australia.

Also this week, we warmly welcomed four primary teachers from Keio Yokohama Elementary School, who visited the College to deepen their professional learning by engaging in classroom visits, a tour of the College and a tangible experience of ‘a day in the life’ of John XXIII College. 

Our Japanese visitors enjoyed their professional conversations developing a better understanding of our College’s rich programs and pedagogical approaches, thereby serving to further strengthen our connections across our increasingly interconnected world.

Daniel Mahon

Principal