From the Principal
A very warm welcome to Term 3 and I hope everyone had the opportunity to spend some precious time with family and friends over the break. I would like to particularly welcome our new families to our College.
During the first Saturday of the holidays, I was privileged to be in the audience at the Australian Combined Schools Music Festival, held at the University of WA. Eighteen John XXIII students performed in either combined choirs, concert bands or orchestras, joining student musicians from Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. It was such a thrill to see John XXIII students performing with fellow musicians from around Australia and I extend my thanks to Mr James Kros, Ms Kath Alexander, Mrs Catherine Haydon and Ms Elizabeth Jennings for providing our students with such a memorable experience. I also extend my thanks to our own families who generously hosted interstate musicians.
During the first week of the holidays, the College Leadership Team, Mrs Shani Andrews, Miss Antoinette De Pinto, Mrs Janeen Murphy, Mr Greg Moran and myself presented at the Jesuit and Companion Schools Australia Conference in Sydney. As a Jesuit companion school, it was important for John XXIII to participate in the conference discussions centred on the theme – Our identity in educating for a faith and hope-filled future. My thanks are extended to Mrs Andrews, Miss De Pinto, Mrs Murphy and Mr Moran for the valuable contributions they made throughout the conference.
This week, we held our own staff conference and community event themed: Walking together. Together, let’s be the voice for generations.
Why run a staff conference and community event themed in this way?
A very small part of the answer to this question relates to compliance. Firstly, the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers identifies the knowledge and skills needed to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and to teach all students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, history and culture.
Secondly, one of the actions emanating from the College strategic plan is updating our College Reconciliation Action Plan. There is no doubt that our staff conference certainly achieved both compliance objectives.
The driver for our staff conference and community event, however, was much more than a response to a compliance requirement.
As you are aware, last term I wrote about how the word ‘justice’ features so prominently in publications describing who we are as a College. Particularly important to me is our motto ‘Seek Justice’.
Many of you would also recognise the prominence of this motto in our College Prayer below: As we plan for tomorrow and live our lives today, may we seek justice.
The addition of the verb ‘seek’ reframes the concept of justice from one that is static to one much more powerful and active. The addition of ‘seek’ also amplifies our responsibility. Perhaps to truly ‘seek justice’ we are compelled to advocate for equality, listen to the voices of the marginalised and actively work towards dismantling the structures that perpetuate discrimination and disadvantage.
As a Catholic school in the Ignatian tradition, our staff conference and community event enabled us to actively pursue the historical and ongoing injustices faced by First Nation people and highlighted our genuine desire to create a more inclusive and just world.
Our Ignatian tradition encourages us to value the importance of contemplation, discernment, and action. Discernment can guide us to listen attentively to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, engage in dialogue and discern how we can contribute to healing, justice and reconciliation in a manner that respects the self-determination and aspirations of First Nation communities.
As we know, Australians will be asked to cast their vote in the upcoming 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum later in the year. For Catholics, this is a remarkable opportunity to call upon our Catholic teachings to make an informed decision. In that spirit, the College hosted a panel discussion on the Voice to Parliament on Tuesday. The panel of experts, including Collene Castle, Fr Frank Brennan sj, Kate Chaney, Kelsi Forrest and James Back provided 330 members of the College community and the broader community the chance to learn about the Voice.
Fr Frank Brennan's book, An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Considering a constitutional bridge | Garratt Publishing and the audio clip below, may be helpful with your own discernment in the lead-up to the National Referendum.
Our staff conference and community event certainly proved to be important opportunities to authentically live out our motto to ‘seek justice’.
College Prayer
Lord, you gave our founders a sense of vision and action.
As members of the John XXIII College Community, we pray for:
Competence to do our work well
Conscience to live in truth
Compassion to open our hearts to those in need
Commitment to respond to God at all times.
May our happiness come from the joy of serving others.
As we plan for tomorrow and live our lives today, may we seek justice.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord,
And with the intercession of our founders:
Pope John XXIII Pray for Us
Mary Ward Pray for Us
Ignatius of Loyola Pray for Us
Daniel Mahon
Principal