Acting Principal

In assembly I offered the staff and students the following reflection on John’s Gospel.

Today I would like to talk about community, and I’d like to explore it through the lens of Scripture, our Edmund Rice tradition, and the lived experience of our students.

Ms Daley presented to the Wellbeing Team earlier this week and reminded us of the EREA Charter. The charter uses scripture that resonates with each of the Touchstones.

For Gospel Spirituality it uses John’s Gospel, Jesus says: “The water that I shall give will become a spring of water welling up for eternal life.” (John 4:14). The Spring carries deep spiritual and symbolic significance, especially in the context of SPC and the Edmund Rice tradition.

The spring represents a source of life within — a spiritual transformation that begins in the heart. Jesus offers not just physical water, but a deeper, eternal sustenance. In a school context, this can be seen as the inner growth of each student and staff member — a renewal of purpose, compassion, and faith.

A spring doesn’t just hold water — it flows outward, nourishing everything around it. This mirrors the idea of community: when we are spiritually nourished, we naturally give to others. Acts of kindness, leadership, and service become expressions of that inner spring.

In the EREA Charter, schools are described as inclusive, liberating communities. When each person becomes a spring — offering encouragement, justice, and care — the whole community becomes a place of life and transformation. It’s not just about individual growth, but collective flourishing.

Did you know that this passage from John’s Gospel is written on the Via Sacra?

At St Patrick’s College, we are part of a tradition that stretches back to Blessed Edmund who used his spring to give hope for those most in need.

The EREA Charter reminds us that we are called to faithfulness and transformation — to live out the Gospel in ways that are inclusive, just, and liberating. It asks us to be courageous, to listen deeply, and to walk together, especially with those who feel left behind.

In our school, Community is more than a word. It’s a way of being. It’s helping the student who has a problem understanding a concept taught in class. It’s inviting someone who is sitting by themselves to sit with you at lunch. It’s choosing kindness over popularity, courage over caution, and inclusion over indifference.

The EREA Charter asks all of us the question:

Am I a living spring in my community?

These are not just questions for the staff here. They are questions for all of us from Year 5 to Year 11. Because each of you has the power to shape this community. To make it more compassionate, more inclusive, more alive.

To our younger students: you are the future of this College. Your actions — your welcome, your courage, your care — set the tone for those who come after you.

To our seniors: you are the leaders. You have the chance to leave behind a legacy of leadership, of service, of brotherhood.

And to all of us: let us remember that the water Jesus offers is not just for us to drink — it is for us to become springs of life, of hope, of love.

Let us be a community where every person is seen, heard, and valued. Where we walk together, not just toward the end of the school year, but toward a deeper understanding of what it means to live faithfully and transformatively. As a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice tradition, we are called to be that wellspring of dignity and welcome. To be a place where every student — regardless of background, ability, or belief — feels they belong.

This is not just a hope it is a responsibility we all share.

So, as we leave this assembly today, I invite each of you to reflect:

• What kind of spring will I be?
• Will I nourish others with kindness, with courage, with faith?
• Will I help this community grow stronger, deeper, more united?

Let us be that spring.

Let us be that community.

And let us do so with joy, with purpose, and with the light of Christ guiding our way.

Luceat Lux Vestra.

In Memoriam

We keep in our prayers Alexander (Year 5) and Jordan (Year 10) Katsoulotos on the recent loss of their maternal grandfather last Thursday.

Adrian Byrne

Acting Principal