From the Principal

Dear Parents/Carers, 

I commenced this weeks’ staff briefing with “Are you all OK?” and so I also begin this week’s entry with the same hope for all our families. Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales has once again braved formidable weather, and this time he had a name - Alfred! Many in our community have been impacted, and again the strength, resilience, and unwavering support for one another in our Mt A community has been genuine. 

Growing up in Cairns, my four younger brothers and I remember being bunkered down in the family bathroom eating baked beans as Cyclone Winifred and then a few years later, Cyclone Joy, roared across the coastline of Far North Queensland. They were both terrifying and bonding experiences; family time spent by candlelight, playing cards and listening to updates on Radio 4CA AM – no smartphones back then! The weekend created stirred me, in ways that I had forgotten, and I know that many of you who have also spent time in NQ will know what I am talking about! It could have been so much worse for so many of us.

Our Mount Alvernia College Chickens were a bit damp, but incredibly happy to be out of their coop on Monday! Thank you to David O’Regan and our Maintenance Team for keeping our campus safe over the weekend.

We would also like to acknowledge all the emergency services personnel and volunteers who worked tirelessly in preparing for Alfred’s arrival and all those who assisted in the clean-up. Many of our Mt A families are represented in these groups, and we recognise and thank you for your efforts in supporting our communities. It has been an eventful week!

While Alfred was an unwelcome visitor, this past week has given us several important reasons to celebrate.

International Women's Day, last Saturday, reminded us of the importance for gender equality and empowerment. Chelsea Blake our Liturgy and Outreach Captain spoke meaningfully of this at our assembly on Thursday. This year’s United Nations theme, "For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment," and the slight variation that UN Women in Australia have adapted to this theme: “March Forward for ALL Women and Girls” calls for urgent action to ensure equal opportunities for all. 

If you have not had the opportunity to read or listen to UN Secretary General (Antonio Gutteres’) powerful message emphasizing the critical need to uphold and advance women’s rights globally, please do so. In his address, he highlights that despite considerable progress following the landmark Beijing conference 30 years ago, women’s human rights are currently under attack. Guterres pointed out that age-old issues such as violence, discrimination, and economic inequality persist, and new challenges like biased algorithms in digital spaces are emerging, leading to online harassment and abuse. He underscored that achieving gender equality is essential for building prosperous and peaceful societies and called for collective action to ensure rights, equality, and empowerment for all women and girls. The abridged message can be found here International Women's Day 8 March | United Nations Development Programme

As a community we look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day at our postponed High Tea event with speaker and author Bonnie Hancock on Sunday 23 March, looking forward to seeing many of you then.

This week at Mount Alvernia College we have celebrated Harmony Week, a time to acknowledge the magnificent diversity that lies within our community and that strengthens our humanity, understanding, compassion and relationship with one another. It is something that is foundational to our Franciscan charism and it is an element of our college culture that we are immensely proud of. 

True to this spirit, we are so excited to share with you all that our very own Captain of Rieti House – Martina Vitale (and her family) is now a Netflix sensation! Those who were part of our community in 2023, will know that Mt A was part of a SBS Television Series “The Swap” – a documentary committed to interfaith dialogue, experience, exchange and understanding. We were enormously proud to have been a part of this production, which is now formally ‘studied’ in RE classes and Civics Lessons across Australia. Excitedly, “The Swap” will premiere on Netflix this weekend – with distribution internationally. We also look forward to attending the Community Iftar being held at the Islamic College of Brisbane next Sunday (23 March), where some of our Year 11 students will be representing the College along with our Deputy Principal, Mr Richard Rogusz and Padua College. 

Finally, I want to take a moment to congratulate all our Year 7 and 9 students for undertaking their NAPLAN testing this week. We are delighted to report that each student approached the testing with engagement, determination, and effort. What truly matters is the commitment to learning and growth that all our students continue to demonstrate in their application to learning, co-curricular, service, and positive relationships with each other. As the term progresses, assessments increase and fatigue begins, maintaining good sleep, nutrition, and exercise whilst minimising screen/social media time will be important over the next few weeks to maintain the healthy balance and educational wellbeing we are all striving for.

May the God of uncertainty and challenge, reminds us that we are never alone—God walks with us through every storm. 

Give us the right words at the right time.

Give us strength and grace when the time comes to repair what the storm has broken.

We lift our leaders in government and from community service agenciesgive them wisdom, give them strength, grace, and unity.

We also lift emergency workers and first responders – we thank them for their strength in supporting our communities.

May you strengthen us for the days ahead.

We ask this pray in Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Thank you to Franciscan Schools Australia for sharing this prayer with our communities.

Peace and all good,

Samantha Jensen

Principal