Dear Parents and Caregivers,

What a magnificent end to the semester! A semester full of memories to last a lifetime and one full of hope and possibility. Following 2 years of uncertainty and interruption, it has been sensational to see the full complement of our programs and activities rebound bigger and brighter than ever. These include everything from the extensive suite of special interest clubs, the additional co-curricular, sport and service-learning opportunities on offer right through to our parent social soirees and information sessions and of course the Colleges’ Musical Legally Blonde. The College and Extended Leadership Team could not be prouder of the students this year, in terms of their high levels of engagement and participation across all domains. Our sincere gratitude must be extended to the dozens of staff who give up their lunch breaks, before and after school and weekends to provide and guide these experiences for our students. A special acknowledgement must be given to our newly installed in 2023, Leader of Student Engagement and Activities - Claire Hatchman, who has done a magnificent job in promoting and leading so many of these experiences for our students.

We also congratulate all our students in their CaSSSA sporting pursuits this semester, I was privileged and delighted to be able to watch several of our Touch teams bring home pennants in the Wednesday finals. I also wish our students who are participating in the upcoming QISSN competition all the very best. Sincere thanks to Charmaine Ferguson and Tamara Richardson for their support of the students over the comp. Similarly, to our FCIP students who are heading to camp along with Danielle Curcuruto and Claire Hatchman, we wish you a wonderful time of music making together.

In speaking with the students in our final assembly last week, I invited them all to take a contemplative moment, as we do in the Franciscan tradition these holidays and to undertake something of a ‘personal stock take’ with the following questions to guide them:

Do I lift others up and do I call out injustices, unkindness, and unfairness?
Could I have supported someone more this semester? Have I been a good friend? Have I made the new student, or the new teacher feel welcome?
In what ways have I embraced our College guiding value of RESPECT this year so far?
Have I given myself the opportunities to be the best version of who I can be?
Am I working in a way that privileges improvement over perfection and being kind to myself in the process?

I then shared with the students the oft heard quote which states:

“Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become character….and Character is everything.”

Our thoughts and intentions become so much of who we are, so it is always important to check ourselves and keeping a healthy ‘mindset’ is as important as getting enough sleep, exercise and nutrition.

I know that you will also join with me in extending our thanks to the work of the teaching and support staff who give of themselves every day in working with our students. As you will appreciate from the media, the teaching profession is currently in a staffing crisis and whilst your child may have had some staffing changes to their timetables this semester, Mt A continues to attract excellent staff who are skilled and care deeply about their profession. We have indeed been blessed! and we welcome all of the new staff who have joined our College this semester.

As well as developing engaging and rigorous learning programs are the hours of work our staff give in providing valuable feedback to each student and in providing them with rich co-curricular opportunities that sit outside of the regular timetable. Together, with you as their primary caregivers, our teachers hold a privileged position in your child’s life as mentor, cheerleader and facilitator of their learning and ultimately their hopes and aspirations. We trust that the academic reports that will be made available to you, along with the mentoring and SET planning meetings early next term will provide you with rigorous and productive information in relation to your child’s progress and educational wellbeing.

SOME RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Multicultural Australia - Luminous Lantern Parade – South Bank

On Friday June 9, I travelled with 5 Mount Alvernia College students to the Luminous Lantern Parade at Southbank. Together with our friends at the Islamic College of Brisbane and our brothers at Padua College we walked together in solidarity as part of Multicultural Australia and in a spirit of peace and reconciliation for all. It was a wonderful night of colours, lights, music, laughter, and magnificent national costumes! Of course, we were also well known from our exposure on SBS “The Swap” with many cheers from the spectators. Next year we have vowed to go bigger and brighter!

Our new Parent Panel

On June 6, our newly installed Parent Partnership Panel gathered in the Principal’s Boardroom for our first meet and connect.

Here we are below together engaging in what is sure to be some wonderfully enriching discussions and initiatives in bolstering the strategic direction of the college not least of which includes the educational wellbeing for all our students. We look forward to sharing more about our work together in the coming months.

The parents and carers who are part of this panel include:

Christine Stockermans

John McCaffrey

Courtney Taylor

Maryanne Humphries

Sheryn Neal

Lisa Irwin

Anthony Christian

Jodie Huntley-Forde

Paloma Steele

Jocelyn Green

Zina Ansell

Annie Riese

Julie Imber

This group provides excellent representation of our parent and carer community, with every year level and house in the college spoken for! Kathy Dendy, Emma Velthuis, and I look forward to our continuing partnership and we are really excited about the future.

We would also like to express our sincere thanks to the 500+ parents and students who attended our Subject Selection evening this week. These have been the most highly attended information sessions in recent years, a testimony to the growing engagement, interest, and partnership within our community. Thanks to all who attended, we hope that you found the information valuable and please do not hesitate to be in touch should you have any questions at all.

The Launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan

This semester also marked an incredibly important milestone for the College in the ratification and launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). As I attended the Sorry Day Ceremony at Teralba Park on 26th May with Mr Rogusz and our Mt A student representatives, listening to the elders of our communities speak, I was reminded of how too often policy documents and well-meaning statements around how things should be done become little more than that.

At Mount Alvernia College we are determined for this action plan to be more than an inanimate document, but rather one that will call to action those things that must be done to ensure that the ancient wisdom of our first nations people is preserved and respected by all Australians, and that the path to reconciliation seeks to correct by whatever means necessary, the injustices and inequities of the past and present. It is simply not enough to hope and pray for healing and reconciliation, but rather we must be active, informed and engaged citizens in this process and with open hearts and minds be receptive to the truth telling. I thank all who were involved in the development of this significant document for the College. A copy of the RAP can now be accessed here link and will be included in our new college website to be launched early next term.

Alumnae Networking Breakfast

What a sensational morning on our Rooftop Terrace, beautifully catered for by our Certificate III hospitality students. We could not be more grateful to Alumnae and College Captain of 1994, Heidi Cooper (CEO QLD Chamber of Commerce) who spoke with affection of the school experience she had here at Mt A, the teachers who shaped and encouraged her and the opportunities that were afforded to her. Heidi mentioned a few times in her keynote that you “Have to see it, to be it” and on Tuesday, together with other alumnae members and year 12 students we saw a highly accomplished, passionate, intelligent and inspirational graduate of the college. Heidi, we see you! Thank you for leading us into new hopes, possibilities and aspirations. Thank you again for visiting your old school and for generously giving your time to us. Our sincere thanks also go to Antoinette Aquilina (Alumnae Class of 1990), who did a magnificent job of MC’ing the breakfast.

Time to fill the cup….

As we head into the Semester break, my plan is to take a couple of nights away camping. Even as a firm lover of the city lifestyle, for me, camping with an open fire in the middle of winter, pondering the skies above fills my cup like no other.

As Franciscan theologian Fr Richard Rohr shares:

“….nature has been revealing God long before the Bible and Church came to be. Nature itself is the primary Bible. The world is the locus of the sacred and provides all the metaphors that the soul needs for its growth”.

and from English Theologian and mystic Evelyn Underhill.

“The very meaning of Creation is seen to be an act of worship, a devoted proclamation of the splendour, the wonder, and the beauty of God. In this great Sanctus, all things justify their being and have their place”.

Enjoy the wonder of your holiday break wherever it may take you. I sincerely wish all our Mount Alvernia College families, students and staff a restful and restorative mid-year break.

Peace and all good,

Samantha

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