Principal's Post

Night of Excellence

The 2026 Night of Excellence was held on Monday October 26, commencing at 7.00pm at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University, where we celebrated the accomplishments of many students in Year 7-11. 

A key theme from the Strategic Plan is ‘Humble Leaders Dedicated to making a difference’. We want to produce graduates characterised by warmth, empathy and compassion, where boys feel safe to be authentic, express vulnerability and explore what it means to be a man. The of all students achievement reflects the collective efforts of all staff who have supported and inspired these students throughout their journey. 

There is much more to education than the pursuit of academic prowess. One of the strong traditions of the College is the attempt to provide a truly holistic education, one which fosters not only academic growth, but also physical and social development, emotional well-being and spiritual growth, that is, the growth of the whole person. On Monday night we celebrated this across all year levels and all facets of College life.   

Alumni Awards Dinner

On Friday evening, generations of the Mazenod community gathered at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club for the 2026 Alumni Awards Dinner. The evening celebrated the achievements, leadership and service of Old Collegians and individuals who have made a lasting contribution to Mazenod and the wider community.

Congratulations to our five Burning Flame Award recipients: Fr John Sherman OMI, Kevin Casey (MOC1977), Carl Steinfort (MOC1994), Ken Nailon and Margaret Boyle. We also recognised our 2026 Leave to Serve Award recipients, Deon Manasis (MOC2002), Aaron Chitaranjan (MOC2013) and Daniel Paone (MOC1998), whose awards were presented earlier this year.

Hosted by Nick Parry (MOC1996), the evening featured student musical performances celebrating the College's long history of productions. Thank you to the Mazenod Old Collegians’ Association, the Mazenod Foundation, and everyone who joined us to celebrate the people who have helped shape our community.

Memorial Mass

Each year we remember and pray for our Old Collegians and Staff Members who have passed away. Each of our Colleges celebrate a Memorial Mass at the beginning of November and invite families to gather in the respective chapels to pray for their souls. Our students are remembered, with their names etched on the wall in the Resurrection Garden beside the Mazenod College Chapel. This year Mass was held last Friday evening, November 6, at the College Chapel. Our tradition of reading all the students names at the beginning of Mass continued and we celebrated the lives of members of the Mazenod community. 

Exams

Our Year 12 students are off to a great start with their VCE exams and all year levels will commence exams in the coming weeks. Exams are a normal way of school life. It is possibility a new experience for younger students to perform under timed conditions. Exams are one form of assessment and a way to achieve a sense of satisfaction for the hard work of study routines to be appropriately rewarded. Some students have had to deal with anxiety which is quite normal for all of us. Our students’ capacity to perform in so many disciplines is remarkable. During these times it is important to remember the four pillars of wellbeing 1. Diet 2. Sleep 3. Exercise 4. Meditation. Good performance comes from preparation, practice, planning and taking care of yourself. Congratulations to all for achieving personal excellence during this time.

All the best, 

Dr Paul Shannon

Principal