“A wise person draws from the well within." Proverbs 20.5.

Go Well Year 12 students

The “well within” is also known as the inner-self or spirituality. Spirituality is the way you find meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace in your life. Many people find spirituality through religion; some find it through music, art or a connection with nature; others find it in their values and principles. Spirituality is our awareness of the divine or sacred core that underlies everyday life.

It is easy to neglect our inner resources, because we have learned to remain externally focused on people, situations and problems that fill our daily lives. The respected theologian, Paul Tillich, urges us, “To develop the courage to live an empowered, authentic, ethical life based on the perception that life, itself, is meaningful”. Positive beliefs, comfort and strength gained from religion, meditation and prayer, all contribute meaningfully to a sense of wellbeing.

Of course, as Catholics, we have traditions, practices and rituals that can assist the external expressions of spirituality; however, it is that internal expression that has at its core the true meaning of our being. If we can offer positive, sensitive and nurturing experiences to our bodies and minds, we are well on the way to developing our inner selves and our spirituality.

These words are particularly apt for our Year 12 students at the moment as they prepare for their final exams. When it seems like we can least afford it is actually the best time to make the time to dip into the “well within”. Prayer, family, exercise and scheduled breaks are never more important than when the pressure is really on:

#prayer and family to remind ourselves of the really important things in life;

#exercise and scheduled breaks to make sure that the mind has plenty of oxygen and the body enough rest to sustain itself during the busy time.

My prayer as we go into the very busy end-of -school year period is that we will all focus on reaching into our own “wells within” for those things that sustain us.

On Friday, in a virtual assembly – a different way to conclude a different year, we will celebrate with and farewell our current Year 12 students. This will conclude their formal time with us as students and then they will only have their exams to complete before embarking on the next phase of their life’s journey.

We thank them for what they have contributed to our College and we wish them all the best for the exams and the future. I know our College community will keep them in our prayers and thoughts during this time.

Setting Foot on New Ground

One Community Growing Together

On Monday 19 October Member for Northern Victoria, Mark Gepp MP, announced the schools across Northern Victoria that will receive funding under the Non-Government Schools Capital Fund. Included in that announcement was the following news:

St. Joseph’s College in Echuca is set to receive $5,000,000 towards Stage 1 of their major project to expand capacity to meet demand. The $15 million project will see significant refurbishment at the Dickson Street campus into a Year 10 to 12 facility – and constructing a new Year 7 to 9 facility on newly acquired land at Stratton Road, Echuca West. The project will feature environmentally sustainable elements.

As you are aware, Stage 1 Stratton Rd is the first of a number of stages planned to help St. Joseph’s implement its Master Plan goals of establishing the Stratton Rd. Campus for Year 7 – 9 students and the Dickson St. Campus for Year 10 – 12 students. Planning is on track at this stage for construction to start mid 2021 with the aim of enrolling the first students onto the Stratton Rd. Campus to start the 2023 school year.

Our community is very grateful for this support from the Victorian Government. We are also grateful for the support and confidence of the Kildare Education Ministries Board and Catholic Education Sandhurst Diocese during the application process.

Most of all we are grateful for the strong support of the local community. Demand for enrolments has been increasing in recent years and it will be fantastic to be able to plan to be as inclusive as possible of those seeking Catholic education.

Our Project Control Group is looking forward to being able to use as many local suppliers and tradespeople as possible on this project as a way of supporting the community that so strongly supports the College.

This much appreciated funding will greatly assist us in our work to challenge and empower students to be creative and critical thinkers who act with strength and kindliness in the Gospel tradition.

College Leadership 2021

This week we announced the Senior House Leaders for 2021. I am pleased to let the College community know that the following students have been appointed.

Brigid House - Connor Turner &

Meg Kennedy-Ripon

Nicholls House - Thomas Donchi &

Tayla Dickson

Moore House - Ella Larkin &

Brooke Arlow

Patrick House - Jade Hussey &

Jolyon Hogan

Chisholm House - Claire Byrne &

Sebastian Monahan

Delany House - Brady Simpson &

Arabella Quirk

God bless.

Michael Delaney

Principal

Year 12 Class of 2020 Goodbye and Goodluck