Faith and Mission

Courage: Speaking and acting with Integrity 

Over the past two weeks, I have had the absolute privilege of witnessing acts of courage and words of encouragement from our compassionate and kind students and staff at Marian. They have brought to my attention this scriptural passage from Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 

DAT Showcase

Throughout the year our Design and Technology students and staff have been working on a variety of artworks including ceramics, sewing, photography, architecture and visual art to name a few. They leveraged their imaginativeness to showcase a range of passions and intellect in last week’s art exhibition. Their impressive displays were exhibited for families to admire. The artworks demonstrated how the gifted staff had encouraged students to tap into their artistic sides to express themselves. It was evident from this showcase that their souls had been enriched and the displays provide inspiration for future endeavours. 

Moira Kelly Guest Speaker

It was incredible to witness our Year 9 / 10 students organise a guest speaker then conduct an interview on stage in front of 300 staff and students. 

Grace Gizaw and Carley Van reflect on their experience. 

The 9/10 cohort were kindly blessed with the amazing Moira Kelly. Moira is a woman who inspired the hearts of two students named Rayann and Angie who were a part of the Heroes and Saints RE class last semester. Minahil, Grace, Swedal, Gavielle, Mia, Binudy, Lucija and Jhaea were the students who ran the assembly, allowing Moira to speak to the whole cohort in one of our Wellbeing lessons. 

Moira’s amazing acts of kindness towards children with disabilities from around the world was something beautiful to hear. Moira is a humanitarian activist and motivational speaker who strives to make society a better place. On Friday 20 October, the College was lucky to have Moira speak about her accomplishments and hardships. 

She was joined by a young, beautiful girl named Angel and spoke about her hardships and how she is able to overcome them each and every day. Angel is a 12 year old girl that lives with a rare condition. Even though Angel is a young girl, her bravery and confidence has inspired our peers and staff to view life in a positive way. We look forward to seeing Moira’s accomplishment in the future. 

At the conclusion of the presentation, students from Heroes and Saints from both Semester 1 and 2 joined Moira and Angel for lunch which was provided by the College. This was a perfect opportunity for students to talk face to face with both Angel and Moira about what they heard earlier in the day. Sarah Le gifted Moira with a beautiful bouquet of roses from her garden which were gratefully received. 

Year 9 / 10 Wellbeing Class Acts

Another privilege was to see courage in action by watching students and staff take on leadership roles to direct, support and perform in our Year 9 /10 Wellbeing class acts. Each Wellbeing class was required to create a 3 minute class performance to present at assembly. The learning intentions included: a) promoting a positive mood and attitude, b) building relationships, connectedness, belonging and shared experiences, c) deepening our understanding of the College theme - Courage: living and acting with integrity and d) raising awareness of a cause affecting adolescents in today’s society. Classes chose to raise awareness for anti bullying, care for the environment, racism and empowering women.

The success criteria needed for this task were: collaboration, risk taking, creativity and courage. Performances included aspects of dance, drama, skits, slam poetry and song. The whole cohort worked together and stepped out of their comfort zone to put on a fabulous assembly of fun and courage. We congratulate all students and staff involved particularly Ms Mharie Shepherd and Ms Jenny Morton for coordinating the entire assembly and to Ms Adele Profeta for all the behind the scenes technology support. Four classes will perform their class acts on Friday.

There have been many more experiences of courage exhibited around the College recently and these events have just been a snapshot of the extensive work being done at Marian. Congratulations to all who are strong and courageous, who are not afraid or discouraged and who know the Lord is with them wherever they go. 

Bernadette Casey

Assistant to the Principal - Faith and Mission