From the Principal

Last Sunday we celebrated a very special day in honour of our mothers, Mother’s Day.   During the week I asked some Years 1/2 students what they did for their mothers on Mother's Day.  After a variety of lovely responses, including one of “we got mum a lawn mower!!!!!", one of the children asked “why do we have Mother’s Day and not kid’s day?”  I told the children that every day is kid’s day and that our mum’s are very special people that love us very much and we need to look after them. 

So…….. the question got the better of me and I did some research, and here is the more historical account.

The modern Australian celebration of Mother's Day actually grew out of calls for peace and anti-war campaigns following the American Civil War (1861-65).  In 1870, American writer and women's rights activist Julia Ward Howe, best known as the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, appealed to women to unite and bring peace throughout the world (later known as the Mother's Day Proclamation).

She proposed that a mother's day for peace be commemorated every year in June.  But the idea of a mother's day did not gain traction until 1908, when West Virginia woman, Anna Marie Jarvis, held a church memorial to honour the legacy of her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis.  Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who nursed wounded soldiers during the Civil War and created Mother's Day work clubs to address public health issues.  Anna Jarvis wanted to continue her mother's work and pushed to have a day set aside to honour all mothers.

But it was not until 1924, following the losses of World War I, that Mother's Day was first held in Australia.  Sydney woman, Janet Heyden, started the tradition after becoming concerned for the lonely, forgotten aged mothers at Newington State Hospital where she regularly visited a friend.  She successfully campaigned for local schools and businesses to donate gifts to the ladies.  "There were so many mothers who were no longer mothers, so many wives who were now widowed because of WW1, and there were also so many women who never had the prospect of becoming mothers or wives because a whole generation had been wiped out in the trenches of the Western Front," Professor Waterhouse said.

It was during the 1920s that Mother's Day became commercialised in the United States, with card companies like Hallmark and florists marketing gifts.  Anna Jarvis was outraged and spent the rest of her life campaigning against the commercialisation of Mother's Day, dying penniless and in a state of dementia in a sanatorium in 1948.

Today, Mother's Day is a billion-dollar industry in Australia.  

For such a simple question, I now know so much more about the history of Mother’s Day.  You really do learn something everyday!!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those, and in particular, Jenny McMeeken and Alicia Collins, who supported the running and coordination of our Mother’s Day stall.  No doubt so many of you were spoilt with many gifts from this stall.

I would also like to thank the Community Engagement Core Group who organised the Mother's Day Breakfast held at school last Friday.  

Last Friday night I had the honour of attending the Jubilarian Celebration of Kirrilee Westblade.  A Jubilarian is recognised for their 25 years service to Catholic Education.  Whilst Kirrilee has only been with us for a short time, her contribution to Catholic Education has been significant, and we congratulate Kirrilee on this wonderful acknowledgement of her service.

Next week our College will be hosting both it’s Open Day and Information Night.  Our Open Day will be held on Tuesday 21 May and our Information Night will be held on Wednesday 22 May.  We welcome all new and existing families to our College and look forward to showing you around our wonderful College.

Brayden Stone

Principal