From the Principal

The finale of our excellent College Musical last week included the line from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, ‘To thine own self be true’. During Hamlet, the line is spoken by King Claudius’ chief minister, Polonius, as part of a speech where he is giving his son, Laertes, his blessing and advice on how to behave while at university. During the play the famous line is followed by, ‘And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man’. The sage advice to be true to oneself, and then it will naturally follow that you will also be true to others, of course resonates as much today as it did in Shakespearean times.

During Term 1, before commencing as Principal, I was privileged to briefly visit the College for a day to meet with as many staff as I could and share lunch with our College Captains, Yvie and Ben and our Faith and Mission Captains Ava and Nick. During our lunch discussion, amongst other things, I asked if our student leaders had any advice for the new Principal, to which they responded, ‘just be yourself Mr Mahon, just be yourself’. Instead of an expected list of, ‘whatever you do, don’t change that’, or ‘you really need to look at this’, the advice I received was really ‘To thine own self be true’. I was particularly struck by our student leaders’ response and greatly appreciated their advice. 

This week the Secondary School celebrated Loreto House Day on Thursday and the Primary School celebrated Primary House Day on Friday. Both celebrations provided students with opportunities to reflect on the important influence our College founders have had on our John XXIII College community. There was of course lots of fun to be had too and I extend my thanks to all Loreto House staff, ably led by Mr Gallagher, Sr Tess and to all the Primary School staff for what were excellent House Day celebrations.

Reflecting on our House Day celebrations this week, I was reminded of an address given by Loreto Sr Janet Palafox ibvm some years ago. During her address, Sr Janet challenged her audience to ask God – “Who did you create me to be?” And ask God to “give you the audacity to be who you truly are. Who are we? – people of love? ……it is not so much what we do or what we are that matters most – it is who we are”. Perhaps it is the lived experience of these qualities that truly defines a John XXIII education and perhaps there is a better understanding of this importance amongst our students than we realise. Given my early interactions with our student leaders, it certainly augurs well for the future.

Lastly, I extend my thanks to everyone involved in today’s Secondary School Cross-Country Carnival and look forward to the attendance of as many mums and mother figures as possible during our Mother’s Day Mass next Thursday 11 May.

Daniel Mahon

Principal