From the Principal

During the holidays, the College will be advertising for three significant roles in the Secondary School, planned to commence in 2026. The first is the Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning role. As parents are aware, Chris Morris is acting in this role for 2025 and considering this, we are looking to secure a permanent appointment from 2026. The second relates to a growing need as our Secondary School enrolments naturally increase with greater student retention. As an example, our current Year 12 cohort of 166 students will be replaced next year with a Year 12 cohort of 181 students. Increased student retention, coupled with our strategy to reduce the size of classes to a maximum of no more than 27/28 students for any class across the Secondary School from 2026 has necessitated additional leadership supports. Consequently, the College will be advertising for a Head of Middle Years (Years 7 to 9) and Head of Senior Years (Years 10 to 12) during the holidays. Both positions will be in addition to the current leadership roles within the Secondary School and I look forward to announcing successful appointees later in the year.

Also, during the upcoming holidays on July 19 it will be 150 years since Mother Gonzaga Barry and her nine companions sailed all the way from Ireland and stepped onto the Sandridge Pier in Port Melbourne to begin their incredible Loreto ministry in Australia. With great faith and courage, under the leadership of Mother Gonzaga Barry, the Loreto Sisters arrived in Perth some 22 years later in 1897 and established a school on Adelaide Terrace before opening Loreto Osborne in Claremont in 1901. 

In her travel diaries, Mother Gonzaga Barry explained,

'I suppose no one will ever realise what it cost me to leave Ireland and my Irish friends. It nearly broke my heart. Though I was told by my superiors I would not be sent against my will, I felt I had to do it, or be unfaithful to grace…’.

Mother Gonzaga Barry’s contribution to the education of young and older Australians should not be underestimated and continues to shape Australian schools today.  It was Mother Gonzaga who wrote: ‘Aim at something excellent; our life is largely influenced by what we aim at – our ideals often make our realities.’ (Eucalyptus Blossoms, Dec 1897). She ‘had high hopes and expectations for the contribution that Loreto educated students would make to society from the very first days of her foundation in Ballarat in 1875’ (Building a Nation) with many benefiting from her establishment of kindergartens, schools and tertiary institutes across Australia. 

As we know, John XXIII College formed in 1977 following the amalgamation of Loreto College and St Louis’ School for Boys and continues to maintain close Ignatian connections with Loreto and Jesuit schools throughout Australia. Our College's Mission expresses our Catholicity and our strong spiritual, historical and ongoing links with Loreto and Jesuit communities.

Finally, given this is the last Newsletter for Term 2 and the holidays are beckoning, I hope you are afforded the opportunity to spend some of your own precious time with family and friends during the holiday break. I also extend my thanks to our College community more generally for the significant contribution made throughout Term 2 and I look forward to everyone’s return in Term 3. 

Daniel Mahon

Principal