Pastoral Care and Wellbeing - Students
Farewell Assembly
Thursday’s Farewell Assembly was a celebration of Year 12, and acknowledged their contributions and years of schooling. As part of our tradition Mr Steve McCormack and Mr David Saxon performed a special tribute song dedicated to the Year 12 class of 2018 and students were presented with a ‘Mater Dei Cross’. Mater Dei Catholic College staff would like to congratulate you on your efforts, wish you all the very best for your HSC exams, thank you for your contributions to the College and wish you well on your life journey.
Here is an excerpt from the Captains Farewell speech delivered by Bridgett Dill and Jackson Holmes:
Good afternoon staff, students, parents and, most importantly, the class of 2018. Today marks the end of an era for all of us, the day we finally finish our days of schooling. It’s been a long journey, and although today comes as a big relief for some, we have created so many memories as a cohort that will surely last a lifetime....
At Mater Dei each of us have had the opportunity to form lifelong friendships and memories, and in doing so we have bonded, forming the class of 2018, that will not be forgotten easily. However this would not be possible without the wonderful staff members who have guided us from childhood to adulthood, and have not only taught us the content to their subjects, but have also taught us to be mature and confident young adults, ready to face whatever life throws at us in the coming years.
Mater Dei’s emphasis on building community spirit and a supportive team is a credit to our House Leaders, Homegroup teachers and all our classroom Teachers over the last six years, and especially during the HSC Course - we thank you for your encouragement and support in recognising each individual's personal best. You have all personally supported us to develop lifelong healthy habits of learning, whilst focus on goals to a bright future, and for this we are eternally grateful.
A massive thank you also to the Resource Centre staff, Learning Support staff, Office staff, Catering staff, Maintenance staff and IT team for all their work - we thank you for your time and efforts over the past 6 years. Your amazing work may at times appear to some to be behind the scenes, but please don’t ever think it goes unnoticed or unappreciated.
We would like to say a particular thank you to the members of the Leadership Team, who work day in day out to make the school the great place that it is.
To Mrs Bright,
Thank you for making the religious side of Mater Dei run so smoothly. From College masses to Studies of Religion lessons, your attitude to life is inspiring. We would also like to mention and thank Mrs Gill who is currently on maternity leave. Each of you have not only run and taught religion within this school, but you have been living examples of the people we should aspire to be, for that we thank you.
To Miss Banks,
Despite being new to the College, you’ve become such an awesome support for us individually and for our year group as a whole. Whether its offering us chocolate when we are stressed and studying or helping to organise all of our major events for the year, your positivity is infectious and can calm any situation. We appreciate all the work you do and hope that you love the College as much as it does you.
To Mrs Thomas,
The work you put into this school does not go unnoticed, without your constant meetings and organisation, Mater Dei would be nowhere near as successful as what it is today. You have been a leader and a mentor not only to Bridgett and I, but to all staff and students. You are such a great role model for this school, and working with you is very enjoyable. We thank you for all of your hard work.
To Mr Fitzpatrick,
This school would literally not run without you. How you manage to organise timetables, subjects and all things to do with curriculum, whilst also teaching, is beyond us, yet we appreciate all of the work you do and would like to let you know that it does not go unnoticed.
To Mr Lawrence,
First off I would like to thank you for letting me win that $100 on the Celtics earlier this year. For the first few years of high school getting on your bad side was our greatest fear, although as we got into our senior years, we realised the champion you really are. Your honesty and respect to all people is something we all admire, and walking into the school every morning and hearing your happy voice bounce off the walls as we are getting told to get to homegroup quicker is one of the things that makes Mater Dei so special. You are always teaching us to be on our best behaviour, and although Josh Connellan may have taken those words a little too far when he scored himself a good behaviour bond, you will always be a role model to us.
Lastly, we would like to give a massive shoutout to our awesome parents. There is no way we could have reached this day without you by our side. You’ve always managed to put us first, whether it's doing things as little as cooking us dinner or helping us with our study, or dealing with our high stress levels and mood swings. We can’t put into words how much we appreciate you.
Mater Dei has not only been a place for us to learn, but to grow as people and form relationships and memories that will be with us for the rest of our lives. Our biggest thank you goes our peers, the class of 2018. Bridgett and I feel so privileged to be standing up here on behalf of all of you amazing people. Every single one of you is irreplaceable and have made your own mark on our year group, and it has been such a pleasure to have spent the last 6 years with you.
Whilst many of us may not miss the school work or the assignments, I think it’s safe to say that we will all miss the people that make up Mater Dei. To all Year 7 - 11 students of Mater - We encourage you to continue to be leaders and to make a difference wherever the road takes you after today. Learn from your mistakes and continue to support one another throughout your high school endeavours. An individual's constructive contribution to the college will never go unnoticed so make each moment count so when it’s your time to leave, you too will reflect back fondly on your collective journey with the same level of gratitude that we do.
We wish each of you the best of luck for the future.
So, on behalf of the class of 2018 we say thank you. And goodbye.
Mrs Catherine Banks I Leader of Students