Term 2 continues to be busy, with many activities, excursions, debating, winter representative sports, Year 10 camp, our inaugural SRC General Council meeting and our Athletics Carnival.
We have been waiting for the appointment of Fiona Donnelly, our new Marketing and Communications Officer. The current admin team has been covering this area, which has seen a delay in the publishing of this newsletter. I thank you for your patience and I am happy to say that Fiona began with us this week.
Last Monday as part of our prayer and reflection Mr Paton shared a reflection by Br. Michael Green on the three violets: HUMILITY, SIMPLICITY AND MODESTY. It is a wonderful piece that I would like to share with you.
We all know the three little violets, but what do they signify? From where did the symbol come? Let us take a look at this fundamental Marist symbol.
The idea was in fact Marcellin’s, and it has been part of our Marist tradition from the earliest days. His proposal was that the type of Christian discipleship he wanted Marists to nurture would be underpinned by three basic spiritual attitudes: those of “humility”, “simplicity”, and “modesty”. These are the heart of what it means to be a Marist.
There was nothing novel about his choosing humility as the first of the three. From the times of the desert fathers and mothers, this has always been recognised as the most fundamental and primary disposition for anyone serious about progressing in the spiritual life. It is to recognise God as God. It is to be awestruck, indeed humbled, before the immensity and infinity of God, God’s omnipotence and unfathomable mystery, God’s unshakeable mercy and fidelity. It is to trust in this. The proud don’t know God – they just can’t – the self-righteous, those caught up in their own power and importance, those blind and deaf because they don’t allow themselves to see and hear. The metaphors for the spiritual journey often use terms such as thirst, hunger, yearning, dryness – it is for God they seek, but more importantly, know that they need to seek. "Blessed are the poor in spirit", is Jesus’ opening line in Matthew 5, "for theirs is the reign of God".
Simplicity was more novel as a spiritual attitude. St Francis de Sales – one of the key sources of Marcellin’s developing spirituality – was someone who emphasised this. It is to be oneself before God – openly, genuinely, trustingly, vulnerably. It is to hide nothing, to pretend nothing, to mask nothing. It is to not kid oneself or presume to trick God. It is to have an uncluttered relationship with God, something direct and transparent like any genuinely loving relationship – one not in need of lots of augmentation, or props, or proofs. No secrets, no game-playing, no hidden agenda. It is to use language and symbols that are accessible, even affective and intimate. Some would say that simplicity is the most quintessential of the Marist traits. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
And modesty. Some people trip up on this because they confuse it with lack of self-assurance or poor self-esteem. Nothing could be more opposite. Modesty is about having a self-concept that is secure and mature enough not to feel any need to intrude or impose myself on another, not to shout them down with my voice, to crowd them with my presence, to use them to satisfy my emotional needs, or to serve my ends. It is rather, to put the other at the centre – respectfully, selflessly, and non-possessively. It is to be focussed on them rather than myself. Where humility is recognising God as God, modesty is allowing God to be God, and to act in my life as God. It is to work to learn about God, to be alert to God’s quiet and subtle presence and movement in my life, and to allow myself to be affected by that, even transformed by it. Blessed are the meek.
One of the greatest mistakes that Marists have made – including among them some of Marcellin’s early Brothers – was to think that humility, simplicity and modesty had something to do with behaviours that straight-jacketed or diminished the full human expression of whom each of us is as a person. Not at all. They are not behavioural guidelines but, rather, spiritual attitudes. Of course, if we nurture them in our faith lives – in the way we approach God – then they are likely to be mirrored in our ministry. That is to say, we will approach young people and our colleagues, and everyone, in the same way that we approach God: with the respect that comes from humility, with the genuineness that comes from simplicity, and with the desire to allow them to shine that comes from our modesty. We approach them with an apron, basin and towel. To love and to serve.
For a symbol to represent all of this, Marcellin turned to the little flowers that grow wild in that part of France. These flowers are not ones that shout out through their colour, their size or their scent: “Look at me! Look at me!” No, they are small – tiny purple flowers scattered in green fields. But when discovered, they can be seen to have their own beauty, their own integrity, and their own quiet statement of who they are. And the fields are different, as a result.
YEAR 10 CAMP
We've just had our Year 10 Camp, or should we say finally had our postponed Year 9 camp. It was great to see them working through challenge activities, being tested both mentally and physically. There were lots of laughs and great comradery and we were so impressed by students facing their fears and the way students rallied around each other in support. This year we are doing additional overnight excursions, our Year 10 camp and Year 12 retreat. This places an additional burden on staff. I would like to thank the staff for their willingness to be away from their families for 3 days, especially those who have attended both camps this year. I thanks Ms. Basha for her organisation, Mr. Paton for leading the camp and to Ms. Tredinnick, Mr. Sayegh, Ms. Mayday, Mrs. Beach, Mr. Gray, Mr. Frede, Mr. Caravella, Ms. Brown, Mr. Boulous, Mrs. Botto and Ms. Handsley-Delves for their attendance and support.
SRC
Last Wednesday afternoon after school, I was privileged to be part of the inaugural SRC Council meeting, bringing all of our student leaders from years 7 to 12 together. I am excited to see this next step in our student leadership, it is important that our students are represented and play an authentic role in our College. Our motto for students this year is “Your Voice Matters”
NAPLAN
Over the past week we have been engaged in the Naplan testing. Regardless of the outcome, Naplan is just one set of data that we use to work with our students. Every single day our teachers engage in formative assessment to determine next steps in a student's learning. As always if you have any concerns about your child’s progress or additional information that would support us in our work, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Athletics Carnival
How wonderful to be able to run our Athletics Carnival. We had some concerns about the threatening rain, however, despite a short shower after lunch, the carnival went ahead. Student attendance was high and the participation by all students was very pleasing and commented on by many staff. It was a wonderful community event and I thank Mr Ryan James for his organisation and all of the staff for their work on the day. We still have a few Championship events to finish. Mr James will share information with you.
CONCERNS
At times you may be concerned about your child’s progress at school. If it relates to the classroom I strongly encourage you to make contact with the specific teacher so that you can discuss your concerns directly with the teacher. As always if there are issues, our College diary has a list of the College Leadership team, Pastoral and KLA Leaders of Learning that you can contact.
PARENT HUB
Last week we were privileged to have Susan McLean come and speak to our parents about cyber safety. Susan is Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety and was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years. Widely known as the ‘cyber cop’ she was the first Victoria Police Officer appointed to a position involving cyber safety and young people. I have to say, that after listening to her, I am pleased that my children are grown, and I am not having to navigate this digital world with a teenager, or indeed younger children. Susan shared her deep knowledge of the digital space and the many social media apps, including Tik Tok and shared examples of how predators online are extremely savvy at luring children and young people in. There have been a number of articles recently, one last weekend in SMH about this very issue. I encourage you to read it.
She talked about the difference between online friends and real friends. Often young people friend someone because their friends of friends, when ultimately no one really knows who they are. Susan’s website https://www.cybersafetysolutions.com.au/ has a number of short videos that cover what she shared with us. Please take the time to visit her site, and become more aware of the digital world within which our kids are living. She also made the suggestion that there should be no technology in bedrooms or bathrooms at any time.
A big thank you to Chrishani Cogger our P&F president and Mr Paton for collaborating to bring this to our families. Our next P&F meeting is coming up on the 2nd of June. You should have already received an email.
If you have any concern or have questions please contact us, so that we can support you.
Yours in Jesus, Mary and Marcellin,
God Bless
Angela Hay
Principal Leader