Dear St Mary’s College

Last week, I was in the Front Office, and I heard a small voice say, ‘Look mum, there’s the big principal.’ I was amused by this title, as were others in the space. I then asked, ‘If I am the big principal, who is the little principal?’ The emphatic response was that it was Ms Ciccarello of course!

This brief and delightful interaction is one of the things I love about working in a Reception to Year 12 community. In that simple exchange, I got insight into how one of our youngest students understands the relationship between two of the adults in her community. Hopefully, she also knows that both of us are here to encourage and support her as she learns and grows.

How we support each other to navigate connections is central to our work. We know that for young people to thrive, they need to form friendships, feel that they belong in the St Mary’s College community, and be in relationship with their teachers. That is why we named ‘Holding relationships at the heart’ as our first strategic intention.

As human beings, we are hardwired for relationship with others. All of us yearn to be held, in love, and to know that we matter.

Restorative Practices (RP) is a whole school philosophy that understands relationships as the most important work we do. Having processes in place to work through conflict or problems, is just one of things that we do with a restorative lens. In the coming months, as we do the work of our Strategic Plan, we look forward to engaging with parents and carers about how this commitment to RP, shapes our approach in learning and wellbeing.

Enjoy the weeks ahead.

Clare  (The Big Principal!)

The Middle School journey at St Mary’s begins with relationships and connection. We know that transition matters. When your daughter connects with friends, teachers, and the school community, she will grow in confidence and embrace learning.

Our Middle School approach is designed to meet the needs of girls through their adolescent years. We provide wrap around support for learning and wellbeing to help young people to get comfortable with change, to see challenges as an opportunity for personal growth, and to discover their unique identity and strengths. We design learning relevant for today’s world. We want our Middle School learners to use their voice to engage in their learning and become active citizens for a better world.

Our year level cohorts of no more than 110 students mean that we create a community of care and connection between students and staff. Encourage your friends and family to join us for our next Middle School tour.

We recently celebrated the achievements of our merit recipients and students who achieved a 90+ ATAR. Ellie Walker was the 2021 College Dux. An excerpt from her speech is included below:

In 2016, I started at St Mary’s as a Year 7 and over the last six years here I was shaped into the person that I am today. I was taught to be resilient, to persevere when things get tough, to value my relationships and that women can do anything. Growing up, I was always good at and enjoyed school; however, it was never something I thought I would miss. Now having graduated from St Mary’s, I realise that I couldn’t have been more wrong.

For me, St Mary’ s was a place that allowed me to flourish by encouraging me to make the most of my opportunities and to take risks. It was also the place that I met many of my closest friends who I had the pleasure of sharing my high school years with.

The teachers at St Mary’s were all extremely supportive and helpful throughout the entirety of my schooling, and for that I am truly grateful.

Like everyone else, my Year 12 journey was full of highs and lows. My greatest achievement is that I don’ t have any regrets. I went in with the goal of attaining an ATAR that would guarantee me a place in law school and I did everything within my power to make that happen.

The St Mary’s College immersion to Vietnam has not happened since 2019, but the connection to the community at Phu My Orphanage has remained. Many staff and old scholars have experienced this transformative immersion in the last 15 years. All of them would have met Hoang, remembering his cheeky spirit and his great connection with trip leader, Peter Batty.

We received news this week that Hoang died in hospital on 10 May, just shy of his 22^nd birthday.

Hoang was born on 27 July 2000, at the age of two he was abandoned at a paediatric hospital in Saigon. Most likely his parents were not able to care for him, he never saw them again. Hoang was sent to Thu Doc orphanage but access to dialysis was complicated, so in 2010 he joined the community at Phu My. The nuns took special care of him and made sure he was able to access the medical support he needed.

Hoang had a powerful will to live; as his kidneys failed, he lost the strength to walk and talk, and his eyesight went. Despite the obvious pain and physical challenges, he loved getting into his wheelchair for time in the yard or a wander down the road. On our last visit, he still loved ice cream, treats and a good back scratch!

Like many of the young people we worked with in Phu My, deep connections were formed irrespective of language and communication barriers. For Peter, these connections have been sustained over many years.

In Peter’ s words, “Hoang touched my life and strengthened my outlook on resilience and courage. I am forever blessed for having met him; he is forever in my heart.”

Hoang had a strong Christian faith. The nuns celebrated his life in a requiem mass and his ashes have been laid to rest next to the former orphanage church.