From the Deputy Principal
From what I have read about Catherine McAuley, when she began her ministry of educating young girls, there was a clear understanding that the purpose of education was more than developing skills and knowledge. The purpose was to protect the young person from the dangers of poverty, abuse from their employers, and ultimately, create choice for the student to influence the direction of their own lives. As a young teacher, I quickly realised this unique and rewarding responsibility and tried my best to provide robust and quality curricula to support the importance of ‘choice’ for young people.
Choice of subjects, choice of study, sport, co-curricular offerings, the breadth of choice develops young people, supports them to experiment, discover, and aspire to find their path. Like many of us, Catherine’s path changed many times, and her faith supported her journey, her curiosity supported her learning, and her relational intelligence supported the recruitment of her team of teachers and later, nuns founding the order of Sisters of Mercy. At the time of writing this article, we are preparing for Mercy Day, an opportunity to develop our connections and support Mercy charities which have been formed since the opening of Catherine’s House of Mercy in Baggot Street, Dublin on September 24, in 1827. This nearly 200-years journey has protected, influenced and encouraged countless numbers of young girls and boys to be educated and choose their path.
In today’s world of digital communications, influential algorithms, I consider if we are successful in providing true choice for our students. Certainly, the access to information, opinions, political persuasions are easy through our devices in an almost relentless fashion. Without discernment, guidance and leadership from adults, there is a risk that young people are having their choices controlled or restricted in some way. The controlling force may not be the 19th century class system but social media influencers. The federal government is developing legislation to give choice of the algorithmic control, restrict undesirable and violent material in combination with this year’s Social Media Delay legislation. We remind parents and carers that mobile phones are not to be accessed at school during school hours and to talk to their children to ensure they are not engaged in social media or gaming activities that are potentially harmful.
The manipulative dominance that media and faceless ‘chat’ communication can have risks increasing anxiety for young people. Our College Counselling Team receently presented an informative online forum for parents and carers that provided practical tools to assist teenagers with acute anxiety. I thank the Child Safety Team for organising the event and for our College psychologists’ professional presentation.
Pathway choices are often influenced by the uniting support of church groups, clubs and mentors, this was the message shared by our impressive panel of presenters at our Father’s Day Breakfast. Fathers from our community shared the challenges and changes in their lives which supported them on their path in travel, family and career choices. The presentations were as informative as they were entertaining with the largest audience number for a Father’s Day Breakfast ever. Thank you to the staff for organising the event and for the businesses in the community for contributing amazing raffle prizes. The Father’s Day Breakfast was fundraising for Mercy Works and Sister Mai Nguyen-Doan's Sudan Project.
Two of our Year 11 students and our Mercy in Action Leader, Lauren Marquet took the Mercy Value of Service to a higher level at the Cambodia Tour – Social Justice Immersion Project. More details will be revealed in this newsletter.
Responses and reactions regarding the recent Year 10 Reflection Day described students as engaged, challenged and collaborating with maturity, making valuable contributions. Guest speaker, Michelle Newland, presented her story of recovering from a life changing stroke as a teenager and how her faith gave her strength to recover and recreate choices for her life. Thank you to Adam Valladares, Director of Mission & Mercy Ethos and Marie-Claire Anastadiadis, Religious Education Learning Leader and January Ma, Year 10 Leader and the supporting staff for creating such an important day.
We finish Term 3 after opening Altiora Campus, hosting Frayne Festival, closing House competitions, experiencing unprecedented ACS success, celebrating Mercy Day and finishing with a Sausage Sizzle on the last day of term Thursday 17th September hosted by our parents from Community Connect. There has been plenty of choice experienced by our students, a variety of quality programs designed by our staff and a nod to Catherine McAuley’s quote, “the blessing of unity dwells amongst us.”
Rachel Valentine
Deputy Principal