A contemporary expression of Courage was explored in the first half of 2023 at BCI. We commenced the year with our theme of Courage Speaking and Acting with Integrity, raising awareness for all students to stand and have a voice in the community where injustice is present.

This theme continued to run through each of the House Mass liturgies and the challenge put to the students was that they would continue to be witnesses to justice and lights to the world for their community. These themes were explored through Service Group opportunities, Brigidine Day, Sorry Day, Environment Day and more recently the celebration of NAIDOC Day at the College.

First Nations students were invited to run workshops along with parents and Guest Speakers for the day on Friday 15 July. This included historical perspectives, the VOICE to the Parliament Referendum, Rock Art, Songlines, Cultural Trivia and Cultural Awareness through other art forms. Students embraced this opportunity with a great deal of Courage as in a number of cases, students were presenting publicly for the first time.

This was an important courageous step by our College community to take the time to celebrate NAIDOC over a whole day. Elder, Uncle Albert Bowie, commented on how clearly the College engaged in these activities as a significant part of our historical context and journey.

Recently we were reminded about the 500 days since the beginning of the Ukrainian/Russian war and continue to pray for the embrace of peace.

This year, our college has lost four members of our community: Rifki Zahir, Caitlin Fisher, John Crawford and Alfie Williams. This loss was expressed in a very deep and moving way by the staff and students in participating liturgically in remembrance services. It has been a very difficult journey but our community has shown great courage accepting such unexpected sadness and loss and as we move forward together, they are in our hearts and minds forever. Their contributions to the Brigidine Community were unparalleled and deeply appreciated.

Green Today, Clean Tomorrow! - A Student's Perspective

World Environment Day serves as a global platform to inspire positive change and engage in efforts to protect and restore the Earth. Brigidine College, as a community, is dedicated to contributing to environmental action and putting power into a sustainable world with our sustainability cause. The Environment Club strives, with a compassionate, positive student voice, to strengthen and encourage the preservation of our world for the sake of future generations.

During Term 2, the Environment Club hosted World Environment Day at Brigidine College - it was an absolute blast! As members, we spent weeks preparing and organising our individual stall ideas around global environmental issues, sustainability and the celebration of nature and wildlife.

The event featured a petting zoo, suitcase rummage, and bake sale. However, it was also great to see students thinking outside the box to create a passionate representation of their own environmental values with new stall ideas. One of Brigidine’s lovely Year 12 students, Maya Pianta, brought her own plant propagations and pots to sell – sustainable; and for a great cause. A few Year 11 students also had an interesting stall on ocean pollution awareness, creating a game out of cleaning up rubbish commonly thrown away – also aligning with the 2023 World Environment Day theme #BeatPlasticPollition. While it’s a heavy topic, it’s important to participate in these environments where learning is easy and approachable, especially for the younger students to enable the creation of change.

Our Environment Club takes our ‘green’ theme very seriously: we had face painting, flower crowns, and potting tutorials. Thanks to a senior student’s family recipe, we had veggie burgers on the Curragh; the burgers were delicious and totally free! The Year 7 students also encouraged sustainability with a bring your own mug advertisement for their hot chocolate stand.

In addition, we hosted students from Holy Family Primary School. Connecting with the younger grades to teach them innovative ways to lessen harmful environmental impacts, they certainly enjoyed all the fun activities we had prepared for them.

Amazingly, we raised over $450 in funds, some of which will be donated to a charity voted on by the Environment Club. The rest has been set aside to start our “chickens at school project”. At the core of the day was a sense of connection between our Earth and our Brigidine community - that creative outreach spread awareness and encouraged sustainability to all students and staff involved.

Caitlin Hanlon and Gemma Matthews

Year 11, Brigidine College Indooroopilly

Kildare Ministries' 10th Anniversary Conference