Courage at Brigidine College St. Ives
The Kildare Ministries theme of ‘Courage’ for 2023 has been evident throughout the Brigidine College St Ives community in several ways. The launch of the theme at the initial staff liturgy in Term 1 galvanised the staff community into reflecting on ways to affirm and ‘en-courage’ this important value in the College.
The Year 12 cohort immediately took up this value in their theme for 2023 “Dare to Dream’, an inspirational message encouraging the community to try new things, to dream of a better world, and to act with courage in support of others. Each week they selected ‘Dreamers of the Week’ from staff and students, who were nominated by their peers, who demonstrated the values of the college community and made a difference to others in their words and actions.
The courage to walk with others and advocate for the marginalised was evident as well across the College in 2023. Students showed courage in making time to cook meals for the organisation ‘Dignity Dishes’. As part of their Community Involvement program, DEA program or as a part of Homelessness Week in August, they were able to reach the milestone of over 35,000 dishes for this group in 2023, after only working with them from 2020 in the midst of the pandemic.
The Senior Social Justice leaders were courageous in organizing a Social Justice Forum in 2023. They invited students from a range of local schools, both Independent and state schools, to come along and discuss social justice issues like the support of refugees and asylum seekers. These courageous young women created the opportunity for advocacy and awareness of these important and prevalent social issues for the students and staff present at the event.
The College invited back a member of the College Alumni to speak about courage at the whole school Assembly in June 2023. Hayley Ballesty is a current member of the Australian Olympic Water Polo squad, and she spoke about her journey from Brigidine College into the world of international sport and representation of her country at this elite level. Despite many injury and selection setbacks, Hayley typified the courage required to be persistent and to bounce back from challenges with greater determination to reach her goals. It was an inspirational presentation and fully in keeping with the notion of courage for our students, assisting them to be resilient and strong as they face their own situations and goals in this year and beyond.
A number of other activities also demonstrated the theme of courage in 2023. We sent 3 groups of students on Immersions to indigenous communities in NSW, Far North Queensland and to Kakadu in the Northern Territory this year. These courageous young women and their teachers took important steps to listen to local First Nations people and learn from their stories, experience and culture. In September a group of students took part in ‘Cut for a Cause’ and allowed their hair to be cut to support people going through the challenge of hair loss from radiation and chemotherapy in Australia. This initiative, as part of the annual ‘Year 9 Pink Day’ for breast cancer awareness, is a clear sign of the courage required to give to others less fortunate and to walk alongside them in their personal challenges.
In all of these activities and events our community demonstrated the values of Jesus in courageously challenging society and seeing in each person the true dignity and worth they have been given as humans. Courage has been a value that has enlivened our community in 2023 and provided a framework for new and ongoing initiatives to inspire our students and staff and to create a better world.
Brian Loughland – Deputy Principal – Faith and Mission.