Over the last few weeks of term 2, I was granted enrichment leave by the College Board. In that time, I participated in trekking four sections of the Larapinta Trail, which is near Alice Springs. We travelled approximately 18-20 km per day over quite rocky and, at times, steep inclines. The weather was warm in the middle of the day, however, the nights dropped to minus 1 and the canvas swag provided limited protection from the heavy dew that formed over the night. One morning, we woke to find ice had formed on the canvas and the campsite was white and crunchy under foot. At night, the stars were spectacular. An astronomer pointed out the regular constellations but also the constellations identified by the local Aboriginal people who use the dark spaces as well as the stars to create images and associated stories. The last day was particularly challenging where we began our walking at 3am in the morning wearing head torches and made our way to the top of Mt Sonder for sunrise at 7am. The whole experience of the centre of our country and continent was awe inspiring. It really is the spiritual heart of Australia. I am very grateful to the Board for this opportunity and to Mrs Wright and Mr Ashkar who took acting roles in my absence.

Last week, staff participated in a week of professional learning and instruction. The Coordinators spent some time with Andrew Martin who outlined the key elements of Academic Buoyancy. On Wednesday, under the guidance of Mrs Benney and experts from the AIS, we looked at how we can support the learning needs of all our girls. We spent some time on improving our adjustments in our programs and teaching practice to accommodate all the girls.

On Thursday, the focus was on Child Protection and how to implement the Child Safe Standards into the culture of the College. Providing a safe environment for the girls is our primary responsibility so the time spent on this work was very important. Finally, for our Spirituality Day, we embarked on our commitment to the Pope’s call for a Laudato Si Action Plan. It was exciting to hear the energy and commitment from staff on finding ways that we can respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Thank you for your support for this week. Its value and positive impact on the learning for the girls cannot be over stated.

Over the weekend, a number of staff and some girls participated in the Good Samaritan Education Triennial Conference. Board directors, senior school staff and students from all ten colleges were present, along with members of the governing council of Good Samaritan Education. It was inspiring and enriching to hear Bishop Vincent Long, Fr David Ransom, Ms Brooke Prentis and many others speak over the two days. Ours is a rich and nourishing charism that speaks so eloquently to the needs of communities in this generation in this time in our world.

Sadly, we will be farewelling Mr Gattone at the end of this year as he moves to retirement. He has been an outstanding Mission Coordinator at the College, building community and nurturing an invitational model of faith formation with his welcoming and inclusive manner.  We wish him well for 2023. Ms Haley Keays, Community Engagement Coordinator, finished at the College this week. She has made a significant mark on the outcome of the Gala Ball and our social media pages, where she posted interesting and engaging content that had an enormous reach across the community. We wish her well for the future and thank her for her wonderful work.

Finally, it was lovely to see the girls back at the College. They appear refreshed and ready for the term ahead. I ask that we all remain vigilant about watching for COVID symptoms as we must keep the safety of ourselves and our community at the forefront. My best wishes to the HSC girls as they begin their Trials next week, which will mark the beginning of their final term at the College. I will leave you with a short extract taken from the reflection on Humility which Michael Casey outlined in a workshop at the recent Good Samaritan Conference.

Blessings

Sue Lennox -  Principal

"In the Christian understanding, humility is better understood
not as a virtue but as the effect of spiritual progress.
It is a state or quality that comes about
as the result of the interaction of different influences:
the grace of God and the lifelong experience
of acting and being acted upon."