From the Principal

This morning I had the privilege of meeting with some of our generous parent volunteers who so freely give of their precious time to support our College. Our meeting afforded me the opportunity to acknowledge this generosity, even if only in a small way, and caused me to reflect on recent discussions I have had with some learned alumni about what, in their opinion, makes our College so special. Opinions have varied, but perhaps the level of community involvement and enthusiastic volunteerism that exists in our College should feature prominently in any such discussion.

There is a significant body of educational research that asserts that parental involvement in schooling can result in an improvement in student academic performance and attitudes towards learning, not to mention the potential student wellbeing benefits that can come with the congruence of family and school values. How blessed are our students, then, to have such strong and vibrant parental volunteerism in our College. 

I have witnessed so many examples of the generosity of giving, even over the last few weeks, be it through participating in various Board, Foundation and committee meetings; volunteering during the College Musical in hair, makeup, costumes, front of house and during intermission; assisting with a Men of John XXIII event, or at the Interhouse Cross-country carnival. Our keen sense of volunteerism also extends to our staff with many staff volunteering their time to coach sporting teams, attend outdoor education camps and accompany students on various social justice activities.

But what is it about the generosity of giving that is so powerful?

It is of course a demonstration of real courage to serve others - to help others. As has been explained to me before, if we truly know who we are, then we have the courage to act in love.

St Ignatius Prayer for Generosity

Lord, teach me to be generous; 

teach me to serve you as you deserve,

To give and not to count the cost;

To fight and not to heed the wounds;

To toil and not to seek for rest;

To labour and not to ask for reward;

Save that of knowing that I do your will.

Amen

Our Years 11 and 12 students have been working hard preparing for their upcoming examinations, which commence on Monday. These timely examinations are an important opportunity to hone examination technique, strengthening their preparation for the final examinations which take place later in the year. I extend my thanks to the dedicated Years 11 and 12 teachers for the many hours they will devote to marking examination scripts and providing useful, detailed feedback all designed to help our students identify their next areas of focus. 

Congratulations are extended to our Senior Ethics Teams who competed in the Australasian division of the Ethics Olympiad with the international panel of judges awarding a Bronze Medal to our First Team and an honourable mention to our Second Team.

Congratulations are also extended to our participants in the 2023 da Vinci Decathlon, a national competition, where all College teams were ranked in the top ten across most disciplines, which is an outstanding achievement.

As I explained to the students during this week’s Secondary Assembly:

'be it in your, learning, sport, music, drama….whatever it is…. I encourage you to look for the struggle and embrace it. If you are not experiencing the challenge, then maybe you are not investing enough of yourself in what you do. Take learning for example, I really encourage you to embrace the challenge of learning and persevere with it,  because out of the struggle will come real depth of understanding……stretch and challenge yourself.'

I am pleased to report that our College musicians are certainly doing just that by devoting many hours of practice in preparation for the first secondary ensembles concert of the year: the Autumn Soiree. We are looking forward to Sunday’s performances by the Concert Band, Wind Band, Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Swing Band and Treble Choir and I encourage as many as possible to attend at 5pm in the St Louis Sports Centre this Sunday.

Daniel Mahon

Principal