From the Principal

Our year is now officially off and running! What a great feeling it is to now be back in the rhythm of college life and learning. Last week our Year 7’s returned from their exciting adventures at Noosa, our Year 12’s are now fully commissioned as the senior leaders of our college and this week our largest number of students ever were acknowledged for their outstanding achievements in academics from Semester 2, 2022. This of course included celebrating the wonderful results of our newest Alumnae, our record breaking, ATAR smashing scholars – The Class of 2022. How proud we are of all of you! They say you have to ‘see it, to be it’ and what a legacy these students have left for our current cohorts.

On Friday evening, a further milestone and rite of passage will be enjoyed by our Year 12  - Class of 2023 students as we gather together and celebrate their senior formal at Hillstone, St Lucia. It promises to be a wonderful evening, with lots of photos to follow, no doubt.

“The standard we walk past, is the standard we accept…….”

We thank our parents and carers for their continued partnership with us as we work to adhere to our college requirements for appropriate standards of uniform and grooming. The Heads of House and Homeroom Mentor Teachers along with all staff, have noted a general improvement in this area. So well done to all, please keep it up. Naturally, we will be continuing to follow up on students who are not adhering to our expectations in this area and we thank you in advance for your understanding and support of us in this endeavour. One area we do seek to improve upon, and require your assistance with, is the excessive number of students who are continuing to arrive late for school. Heads of the House over the coming weeks will be running reports to follow up on those students for whom a late arrival is becoming a worrying pattern. It is a requirement that all students are at school ready for the warning bell at 8:25am with Homeroom commencing promptly at 8:30 (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and  8:45am on Thursday. We appreciate your continued diligence around this as busy parents and trust that you understand the educational value inherent in coming to school on time for the overall wellbeing of your child.

We can’t wait to enjoy some relaxed time with our parents and carers on February Saturday 18th

Please don’t forget to RSVP to our Parent Engagement Welcome - Pizza Soiree on Saturday Night. We especially hope that our newest families to the college, in Year 7 and other year levels will join us in what promises to be a lovely evening of mingling on the Rooftop Garden Terrace. The leadership team, extended leadership team and members of our P&FSN executive look forward to seeing you. You can register your attendance here. 

“Kindness is key to respect….”

This week I would like to share with you some words from Hugh Mackay’s, The Kindness Revolution. In our year of respect, I am reminded of how important building new relationships with each other is. This is particularly true, as I watch our Year 7’s begin their journey here, along with other new students and staff members. Kindness, is the key to ensuring we feel valued, worthy and included. Kindness ultimately helps us feel connected to others and creates a sense of belonging. Fundamentally, it is foundational to respect.

Hugh Mackay notes that: listening is one of the most precious gifts we can give each other. It is one of the most potent symbols of love and friendship. It’s one of the loveliest expressions of kindness. It’s one of the greatest sources of encouragement to the discouraged, confidence to the insecure and comfort to the emotionally wounded (2021. 83).

Listening is also an act of kindness that we can all practise in the everyday of our lives. In particularly, attentive listening is a way of saying ‘you matter’. It is a humble, responsive and loving response to those who walk life’s journey with us. 

Mackay also observes that everyday acts of kindness, compassion, goodwill, cooperation go unremarked precisely because they are unremarkable for members of a species like ours. The people who stop to help total strangers out of a jam … the people who, night after night, week after week, year after year, volunteer their services to help feed the poor and homeless … the people who have cheerfully sacrificed their own ambition to support a spouse, or a child who needed them … the people who volunteer big chunks of their week to patrol surf beaches, or train as bush fire-fighters, or coach sports teams or help immigrants struggling with English… (2021. 44). 

For me, these words are a poignant reminder of the role that kindness plays in our world, it is the glue that holds the best parts of our humanity together. But we cannot take it for granted and we must actively live it and practise it.

For adolescents who are forging their identities as young adults and navigating the complexities and nuances of peer dynamics, kindness must always triumph. Too easily our unthinking, unkind, loose and unnecessary words and actions can cause enduring harm to those around us. We will be undertaking some careful work with our students in this area in 2023. At Mount Alvernia College, we will always strive to be kind and continue to lift each other up. This is an important goal for us in our Franciscan year of respect.“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them..” Matthew 7:12

Peace and all good,

Samantha Jensen