From the Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Friends of St Norbert College,

Last weekend’s Gospel was of the Parable of the Mustard Seed: 

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” (Matthew 13:31–32).

This parable was used by Jesus to predict the great and wonderful growth of the Kingdom of God, all from very small and humble beginnings.

How poignant it is then that we are celebrating the incredible 900th anniversary of the Norbertine Order in the Valley of Prémontré by our College patron, St Norbert. In fact, all that we do, see, feel and experience has a similar trajectory to that of a mustard seed. Not the least is that our College, with humble beginnings in 1965 with a class of fewer than thirty Year 6 boys has grown to a strong, healthy and vibrant co-educational College of over 900 students. We can also consider just a few examples from our College in recent times, but in many respects, repeated regularly:

• We celebrated the Feast of St Norbert, our College patron on Friday 4th June, beginning with a College liturgy. Traditionally we would celebrate this special day with a Eucharistic celebration, however with the absence of Fr Peter, it just wouldn’t be the same. Regardless, our liturgy was a wonderfully reflective time spent together, giving thanks for the special gift of St Norbert College.
   
• A small group of the Year 9 students of 2018 joined together with Miss Pisconeri to discuss and hopefully increase community awareness of the sustainability needs of our environment. This group, with those original members now in Year 12 and now known as the Climate Canons, has grown to be in excess of 50 students across many year groups, having introduced us to many environmental initiatives including but not limited to, recycling bins, clean up Australia activities, the recent photography competition and my favourite, penguin awareness week.
   
• Our Specialised Basketball program was a mere thought bubble for the likes of Mr Pavy, Mrs Dorfling and Mrs Grosser that they soon turned into action. That seed has now been nourished into a strong, popular and well regarded program that saw our Senior Girls competing in the ACC Championship Final on Tuesday afternoon. There have been many other similarly lofty achievements in the past and hopefully many more in the future.
   
• Our Campus Ministry and Christian Service programs started in the early days with events such as Rice Day and now include various fundraising and support activities, Christian Service Learning programs both within and beyond our own school community, an extensive Retreat and reflection program and various Kimberley and overseas Immersions.

The next two years at St Norbert College are shaping as a very exciting time with many different and varied projects starting out as small as mustard seeds, that we hope will continue the growth of our College as a contemporary educational environment and like the big mustard tree, a source of sustenance for our community.

“For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too” (Matthew 6: 21).

                                                                                                                               God Bless.

Mr S Harvey (Principal)