Dear Parents and Carers
Congratulations to Santa’s High Achievers who were acknowledged and celebrated at Assembly on Thursday. Eighty-three students including eighteen accelerants scored the highest band possible across thirty-five different courses. A number of these students are current Year 12s having completed their HSC last year in one or more courses. Nine students achieved an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) of 98 or more, with our top student, Georgette Bechara scoring 99.7. As a College community, we are rightly proud of these outstanding results that show a breadth and depth of talent. One of these high achieving young women, Isabella Boulos, addressed the Assembly with wise words about determination, effort, balance and love of learning. We wish all of our High Achievers the very best as they commence the next stage of their education at university.
One of the great joys of being the Principal of Santa Sabina College is to be part of a community that spans Mary Bailey House, Prep and Primary, Middle and Senior Years, and our Tallong Campus. Over the past week, I’ve had the opportunity to visit and be part of the life of each and every one of these parts of our College, and to observe the exceptional practice of our teachers and staff. On Sunday, it was particularly rewarding to help welcome families to Tallong. Despite the heat, families enjoyed the hospitality, touring the facilities (for some it was the first time), and having any fears that they might have had about their children and camp allayed. And of course, the children definitely enjoyed the flying fox. Michele Naughton, Tallong Campus Director, displayed her expertise, knowledge, and initiative in expanding the type of experiences to be had at Tallong. Some of our students, for example, have now attended holiday workshops, and these will now become part of the offerings at Tallong.
Our opening year P-12 College Masses have begun, and are organised via Houses. As I explained at the Teangi and Kurrawa Mass last Tuesday, the role of the Houses is akin to family groupings, so that students belong to a family, within the bigger family community of the College. I encourage all families to attend these House Masses, and enjoy the hospitality following Mass where they can speak to teachers in a very relaxed atmosphere.
While I write of the joy of being Principal, I also acknowledge that this has been a very difficult week to be the Principal of a Catholic school, given the confronting evidence revealed by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Established in January 2013 and due to report in December 2017, the Catholic Church’s final Royal Commission case study, began this Monday (6 February 2017), and will proceed for the next three weeks. It is an intense examination of why historical child sexual abuse was so prominent in the Church and the changes put in place by the Church in recent years to respond to abuse and better protect children.
As a Catholic community, we are inspired by the Gospels, and their manifestation through wonderful work undertaken by good people here and around the world. At the same time we are appalled that our Catholic identity is now associated with the worst of adult betrayal of trust of children.
This College is committed to having the highest standards of ‘child-safe’ practices possible, and that we work with families, students and staff to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all. Our responsibility is to communicate our policies and practices with both students and families so that there is a shared understanding of our ‘child-safe’ practices. This must be a priority for 2017 as we promote the spirit of Veritas in all that we do.
I’ve included a letter that some of our senior students have written to the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, about their concerns with current Australian Government policy towards refugees. These students have been inspired by the launch of the Veritas Centre – justice, ethics and interfaith engagement. They are speaking truth to power and deserve the respect of us all. I hope you are as proud of them as are their teachers.
I conclude with some recent words of Pope Francis who challenges us about what it means to be a Christian. He says:
“You cannot be a Christian without practising the Beatitudes. You cannot be a Christian without doing what Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25… It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help.”
May we meet this challenge as a Catholic community, and live the spirit of Veritas.
Yours sincerely
Dr Maree Herrett
