Principal's Message
We look forward with great anticipation to welcoming all Year 7-12 students as they return to face-to-face classes next Tuesday. While lockdowns are not the best way to live our lives, our students and staff have once again managed the transition very well in recent weeks, and we are ready to begin Semester 2 with renewed hope. In particular, I congratulate our Year 10 and 11 students who undertook their mid-year exams with a positive mindset despite the changing conditions. The impact of repeated lockdowns is accompanied by a sense of "here we go again" and there is no escaping that sense of dismay that such interruptions to our lives bring. However, our students often speak of the strong sense of care they receive within our school community. Last week, while visiting each year level’s Google Classroom, I came across the post below within the Year 12 Classroom. After some investigation, I learned that one of our SRC representatives, Jessica D (Year 11) had shared this image at a recent SRC meeting. So, in the spirit of giving, I thank Jess and Liv T (Year 12) for publishing the Joyful June 2021 calendar that invites us all to take daily positive and practical actions to support our own and each other’s wellbeing. I hope you enjoy not only taking these actions yourself but sharing them within your families, especially at this time.
Source: https://www.actionforhappiness.org/joyful-june
The recent two weeks have marked National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week 2021, and while we had hoped to have a Whole School Assembly last week and invite all staff and students to participate in a Long Walk experience last Monday, unfortunately, the snap lockdown and restrictions prevented us from marking this week as planned. Having said this, the 2021 Reconciliation Week theme, More than a word, Reconciliation takes action, reminds us that reconciliation is not something we remember one week each year; it is an ongoing commitment to listening, acknowledging and then acting for positive change each day, each year. Our students want to learn about the culture and life of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and they want to make a difference.
We see this each year when we offer our Year 10 and 11 students the chance to undertake our Indigenous Immersion experience where they gain insights and opportunities to build relationships with our first nation communities, and then return to school and make a commitment to reconciliation as they take up the role of FIRE Carriers within our community. Sadly, this year we have decided to not pursue the immersion given the unpredictability of snap lockdowns and the desire to maintain the health and safety of the indigenous communities with whom we engage. Notwithstanding this complication, I have asked John McInerney, our Deputy Principal Faith & Mission, to work with our two Staff Social Justice Coordinators Lucy Miotello and Alice Dawes to explore how we may engage with our local indigenous communities to continue to deepen our understanding, inform our actions and most importantly continue to learn how we may work towards reconciliation. I hope our students look forward to the opportunities that may unfold over the next year to acknowledge, learn about and celebrate our indigenous cultures.
'The Christian message has only one focus: to change individuals’ lives so they can change the world.'
Pope Francis
Spirit of truth, breathe life into us and move us to new places.
Help us to see the ways in which we have power and resources to change our country and change the world.
Urge us to use the gifts we have for the good of all, working to bring understanding and reconciliation to our community that we may all live richer lives.
We pray this through the one who motivates us into new living, Jesus Christ. Amen.
With every blessing for the fortnight ahead.
Tina Apostolopoulos