Dear Parents and Carers of the St Gregory’s College Community,
The first term of the year has moved very quickly and there are just two weeks of Term 1 remaining. There have been so many events across the first part of the year, too many to list here. However, it would be remiss not to acknowledge and thank the countless students, staff and parents and carers who have been involved in any of these activities.
LENTEN PERIOD
We move into the final three weeks of the Lenten season and the lead up to Easter, and our focus as Christians is directed to an examination of the life we are living and our desire to be a dynamic and beating heart for others in our community. Our models; Jesus Christ, Mary our Good Mother and St Marcellin Champagnat showed us the way to live our life. The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.
COLLEGE OPENING MASS
As a community, we came together on Friday 11 March to celebrate the College Opening Mass, which had been postponed from earlier in the year. It was a wonderful celebration and I wish to share just a few of my comments from my address on that day.
I spoke about being authentic. The word authenticity means to be genuine or truly what something is meant or said to be. I used the Australian colloquialism Fair Dinkum to help us understand what it means to be genuine, truthful, honest and good. I then posed some challenges about what it means for each of us individually and all of us collectively to be authentic and genuine.
The first question posed was - How authentic are we in our support for the ethos and values of our Catholic school in the Marist tradition? In our response, we need to consider how we authentically model Christian and Catholic values and the principles of Marist education and how we truly and genuinely demonstrate care, compassion, love, forgiveness, and hope through our respectful relationships
A second question posed was - How authentic are we in our efforts to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be? In our response, we need to consider how authentically we rise to the challenge of being the best person and the best student and the best friend to others and how we truly and genuinely demonstrate and ensure that we make full use of our God-given talents.
The third question posed was - How are we authentic in our actions in responding to the needs of others? In our response we need to consider how we can authentically adopt the mindset and actions that allow us to put others before ourselves and how we truly and genuinely demonstrate that it is not just about me, it is about we, all of us and do we genuinely make a difference to the lives of other people. In this regard, during the season of Lent, whilst we commit ourselves to prayer and fasting, the other major focus is on almsgiving, which is about the act of donating money, food, or other items to those in greater need. During Lent, we are called to give willingly of ourselves to help, support and assist those in great need, in both practical and other ways. Not that we should only do this just during Lent! This was used as the launchpad to remind our community about our support for Caritas Australia and Marist Solidarity.
MARIST SOLIDARITY APPEAL
Once again, this year during the Lenten period, the College will be supporting the work of Caritas Australia and the Marist Solidarity Appeal for the new Marist school in Timor-Leste. These are real opportunities for St Gregory’s College students and families to open their hearts with love and hope to the needs of the world. The fundraising for Australian Marist Solidarity will continue beyond Lent with a particular focus during the week commencing with the Feast Day of St Marcellin Champagnat in early June.
In a special way in the last week of this term, we will be dedicating one specific day to raise funds for Trinity Catholic College in Lismore, a fellow Marist school that has been completely devastated by the recent floods. Further details about this event will be provided by Mrs Clarke in a separate communication. We strongly encourage the support of all St Gregory’s College families and students during this appeal.
ACADEMIC AWARDS CEREMONY
On Wednesday 16 March the Academic Awards Evening for Years 7-10 from 2021 was finally able to be held after being postponed earlier in the year. This was a wonderful celebration of academic success and an opportunity to recognise a few students with special awards. I extend my congratulations to all students who received awards in recognition of having worked extremely hard throughout 2021 to achieve academic success or having progressively been recognised for effort, commitment and contributions in a range of areas of school life.
At the ceremony, the opportunity arose to reinforce a few messages that we have been consistently giving this year, such as the obligations we have as members of this community. One of these obligations is to do the best they can in all of our endeavours. The award winners are to be commended for fulfilling this obligation with their academic studies and also through an outstanding pattern of consistently good application to all aspects of school.
As we all know, last year was another tough year that was very disruptive and disjointed. It required a great deal of adaptability and resilience. Despite this, there was still a broad range of achievements by our students. Our award recipients are a true representation of everything that we stand and strive for here at St Gregory’s and these hard-working and determined young people are a credit to their families, to the College and they are an inspiration to us all. They are great examples of what we continually hope for from our students. Students can be proud of their achievements and should never be ashamed to succeed academically, particularly when you achieve your personal best!
Another observation shared on this occasion was to note that many of the students who were acknowledged at this event are not just committed to their academic studies, but are involved in many other areas of school life. This is something that I would very strongly encourage all students to do. I encourage all students to continue to embrace the many opportunities on offer here at the College. Whether that be through active participation in the faith-life of the College, involvement in a sporting team, being part of the musical, Mock Trial team, debating and public speaking, being actively engaged in community service, and so many other wonderful opportunities. This is how you can make even more of a difference in your own life, and especially to the lives of others and the College community in general.
I also used the academic awards evening to acknowledge the work of the dedicated teachers and staff at St Gregory’s. Our teachers are passionate about the education they offer, and they strive to give our students the very best learning experiences. By setting high standards and expectations and challenging students, our teachers prepare students extremely well. More importantly, our teacher’s insistence on ’always achieving your personal best’, hopefully, has prepared students for lifelong success. Thank you parents and carers for your support of your sons and for your support of the College. This partnership we have with you is vitally important and highly valued.
INTERGENERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Recently I had the opportunity to speak at the New Parent Cocktail evening and I wanted to share a few of my comments which have relevance to all families. You are probably familiar with the concept of intergenerational equity, which is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, a term that is often referred to in relation to environmental stewardship. I introduced the idea of intergenerational responsibility.
To apply this concept to our membership of the St Gregory’s College community is to understand that we are both current beneficiaries of wonderful resources and opportunities, but at the same time we are also trustees or custodians with an obligation to maintain and to provide for those that will come after us. As current members of the community, our actions now must assist, support and provide for those that will follow us in future generations. As with our life journey, we are also members of the St Gregory’s College community for a time, and we are passing through and benefiting from those before us and contributing to the future and those that will follow.
I also spoke about perspective. When considering the great challenges and tragedies in our world, including war, and those in our national and local communities, including recent devastating floods, let us not forget that we have so much in our lives to be thankful and grateful for, including the opportunity to be a part of a wonderful faith-filled Catholic community in the Marist tradition.
HARMONY DAY AND NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST BULLYING AND VIOLENCE
A very special assembly was held on Friday 18 March to mark Harmony Day and the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. I thank Mr Vetrano and Mrs Clarke for their leadership and preparation for this significant event, and all the staff and students who were involved in this assembly. I would strongly encourage parents and carers to view the recording of this event on the College’s YouTube channel.
NEW COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
The College community was advised on Friday 18 March of the appointment of Mr Matthew Brennan as the new College Principal of St Gregory’s College commencing on 1 August 2022. In the appointment notice, Dr Frank Malloy as National Director of Marist Schools Australia wrote: Matthew is a deeply committed Marist, having spent 28 years working and leading in four Marist schools. In each of these schools Matthew has held positions of responsibility and leadership: as a House Dean at Marist College Canberra, Director of Boarding and Assistant Principal/Head of Senior School at Saint Gregory’s, Acting Principal at Parramatta Marist, and currently Principal at Saint Augustine’s College, Cairns. Significantly, for 16 years, Matthew has held leadership positions in Marist boarding schools.
I contacted Matthew last week to extend my personal congratulations to him and, on behalf of the St Gregory’s College community, to offer our best wishes to him as he concludes his current appointment in Cairns prior to joining our community later in the year.
MARIST SESQUICENTENARY MASS
A Mass to celebrate 150 Years of Marist education in Australia will be celebrated on Friday 8 April in St Mary’s Cathedral commencing at 5.30pm. Representative staff, students and parents and carers from St Gregory’s College will be attending this significant event.
THANKS AND CONGRATULATIONS
During the term, I have witnessed the amazing talents and commitment of so many students and staff as they have represented the College in a wide range of activities within and beyond the classroom. St Gregory’s College continues to provide an amazing array of opportunities, many of which have been featured in this or previous newsletters. I commend and thank all students, staff and parents and carers who have been involved in these many events and activities.
TERM 2 DATES
In preparation for Term 2, advanced notice is provided of some key dates:
- Tuesday 26 April Term 2 Commences
- Wednesday 27 April Anzac Day Assembly
- Monday 2 May to Wednesday 4 May Year 7 Camp
- Wednesday 4 May Art Attack Opening Night
- Thursday 5 May K-6 Mother’s Day Liturgy & Breakfast
- Friday 6 May Year 7 Mums and Sons Breakfast & Liturgy
- Friday 20 May Years 7-12 Parent-Student-Teacher Interview
Student Free Day – Years 7-12 only - Saturday 21 May – Sunday 22 May Boarding Family Weekend
- Sunday 22 May Years 7-12 Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews
- Monday 23 May K-6 Parent Forum
- Monday 30 May Lunch on the Lawn (Junior School)
- Monday 30 May Years 7-12 Parent Forum
- Monday 6 June Mass for the Feast of St Marcellin Champagnat
- Thursday 9 June Champagnat Day Activities
- Thursday 9 June Year 11 Family Survivor Activity Evening
- Friday 10 June Student Free Day
- Monday 13 June Public Holiday
- Tuesday 14 June - Saturday 17 June College Musical at St Gregory’s College
- Thursday 16 June Junior School Parent-Teacher Interviews (Day 1)
- Friday 17 June Lunch on the Lawn (Senior School)
- Tuesday 21 June Junior School Parent-Teacher Interviews (Day 2)
- Friday 24 June Term 2 Concludes
I wish you God’s blessings always. May Mary, our Good Mother, Saint Marcellin Champagnat and Saint Gregory continue to guide us and inspire us on our journey.