From the Principal

One of the things I love about MSJ is the great diversity that makes up our community. The different races, cultures and religious beliefs that are represented here add such richness to all our lives. Last Friday morning at the Male Mentors Breakfast we were fortunate to hear from Mr Fareed Aldeeb a Syrian refugee and MSJ parent who spoke to us about his experience of coming to Australia and how dear he holds his relationship with his daughters. His speech truly summed up who we are as a faith community.

In contrast to our acceptance of our diverse community, Senator Fraser Anning in our National Parliament made what can only be described as a concerning number of racist comments that are targeted to different ethic and religious groups, in particular our Muslim sisters and brothers.  Unfortunately, also over the last few months there has been some concerning comments in regard to the Sudanese community.  Mount St. Joseph Girls' College stands in solidarity with all members of our diverse community, we condemn any forms of racism and we believe in inclusiveness, acceptance and compassion.

Please read the following media release from the Sisters of St Joseph. We as a Josephite College support the sisters and their stand against racism. 

It was great to see such a large number of men at our Male Mentor Breakfast and as mentioned earlier, Mr Aldeeb  was a very inspiring and moving speaker and I sincerely thank him for sharing his story with us. I did took the opportunity this to acknowledge the important role that males have in the lives of young women. MSJ very much promotes the development of women who lead, believe, challenge and inspire. The young women and staff here at MSJ believe in gender equality in all aspects of our lives. At the breakfast, I asked the men present to engage with the young women in their lives so that they know they are loved and supported. I asked them to think about their words and actions to ensure that they do reflect a commitment to gender equality. In particular, I asked them to support the young women by speaking up against, and calling out, sexist and misogynistic behaviour. We have a community of truly talented and wonderful young women who deserve to be treated equally and with dignity and respect.

What a pleasure it was to attend the Mary MacKillop Today Fundraising Dinner held at the College on Friday 31 August. Our Year 11 VCAL students responded to a food design brief to cater for this dinner.  By completing tasks related to this dinner, it gave students the opportunity to meet their Work Related Skills outcomes in relation to a work-related activity (Catering and Event Management). The students showed skill and professionalism beyond their years and I was inundated with compliments from the guests about the quality of the food served and the students' polished demeanour. I congratulate all the Year 11 VCAL students on their very impressive effort.

I hope some of you have had the opportunity to visit us in our new Front Office; it is a wonderfully welcoming and open space. Progress has also been made on the refurbishment of the Giovanni classroom block and it is expected that it will be finished early in Term 4. I would like to thank four students, Niroshi Dikmadugodage, Libby McIntyre, Vivian Wei and Jeanelle Uy who provided excellent advice in the choice of furniture for these new classrooms. We are very much looking forward to moving in!

I have had the pleasure of working with approximately thirty students who are passionate about addressing the waste issues that we have here at the College. We are in the process of collecting data in regard to the amount of waste generated at the College and what processes are in place for recycling. We will commence a ‘MSJ War on Waste’  awareness raising campaign at the beginning of Term 4.

Kate Dishon

Principal