Dear St Mary’s College
I am delighted to introduce
and congratulate our school leaders for 2023.
College Captain SRC - Zenja Z
Deputy Captains - Chanelle W and Sophie P
College Captain Justice
- Tahlia D
Deputy Captain - Brooke S
Dance Coordinator
- Paris I
Music Coordinator - Madison S
Art Coordinator
- Ella W
Drama Coordinator - Juliet M
Sports Coordinator
- Mackenzie D
Deputy Sports Coordinators - Amity L and Ella M
STEM
Coordinator - Evie A
We are blessed with many exceptional students at St Mary’s
who make a wonderful contribution to our community through their commitment to learning, extra-curricular
and community.
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In reflecting on leadership with the students, I spoke about
the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Regardless of where opinion lies on the monarchy, a 96-year life and a
70-year reign is significant. Leadership was not a path she chose, it was one she was born into and then
forced to adopt on a very public stage at a young age. She presented a picture of constancy, even in times
of change, scandal and upheaval.
The quality of steadfastness is often associated with Elizabeth.
To be steadfast means to be resolute, firm and unwavering - not in a way that makes one stubborn or inflexible,
but in a way that makes one faithful to themselves, their core purpose, and the people they are leading.
She lived her whole life with a great sense of service. A lifetime in the public spotlight would not be
an easy task, whatever one might say about the privilege in which she lived.
Leadership
at St Mary’s College is a long way from the monarchy. But all leadership is a call to stand apart,
be a public figure, and put something of yourself on stage. I look forward to seeing what character our
new student leaders will bring to their important roles in leading our student community.
Warm
regards,
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| Absent: Amity L and Paris I. |
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Our Justice Leaders have been busy working with Service Learning,
Outreach and Immersion Coordinator, Peter Batty to plan the annual Justice Day. Learning about and living
into the value of justice is part of our purpose at St Mary’s College. We believe that education
is about forming young people to go out and make the world a better place, through both their personal
and professional lives.
Building an awareness of organisations locally and internationally that
work for justice is a core element of our work in this area. On justice day, our students come together
to focus on various organisations and charities that work diligently to enhance the lives of others. Following
the educational focus of the morning, our school community comes together to raise money and have some
fun to finish the term.
Remember to send your child to school with lots
of gold coins!
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Success is Rarely a Straight Path
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Each year, we invite an old scholar to share their post-school
journey with the St Mary’s community. Our guest this year, Nikalene Riddle, had us spellbound with
her inspirational story. You could hear a pin drop in the Veritas Centre as our guest shared a very personal
story.
Nikalene graduated from St Mary’s College in 2003. She leads Skinnymixers, a global
company and one of Facebook's largest and most active healthy recipe and lifestyle community groups.
The road to success was not a straight path. One of five girls in her family to attend St Mary’
s, they came on a scholarship for low-income families and travelled some distance to attend school every
day. Nikalene struggled to find her place at school and deal with the learning difficulties that made
every day as a student challenging.
Fast forward a few years, as a young mum, struggling with
her health, Nikalene reached out to other Thermomix users on Facebook. From that small step, a multi-million-dollar
company was born. Amongst her many impressive achievements is ringing the bell to open trade on the New
York stock exchange. Her story is one of determination, commitment, community values and learning. Leadership
did not land at her feet; she has learnt to be a leader as her business has grown.
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What matters is how you feel about yourself and that you
end up doing something you are passionate about. And you might not decide what that is for years and years.
And that’s okay.
If you’d told me at school that I would end up being a leader
in my field, standing here in front of you, I absolutely wouldn’t have believed you, which is why
I am back here telling you not to give up. Don’t worry if your test scores aren’t great, you
feel like you don’t fit in, or you learn differently from the others. Just worry about
being a good person who leads by example, a great leader who works alongside the team, and an excellent
community member who creates an environment where everyone can feel safe and belong.
I’
ve always been committed to living by the values of justice, creating community and respect, which I
learnt from my time here at St Mary’s. It’s important to me to live in a community where everyone
is treated well and has opportunities.
And to the 2023 leaders who are going to take the
school into the new year: be yourself, be kind, be determined, and be the sort of leader you would like
to see.
There is so much about Nikalene’s story that embodies the vision and purpose
of St Mary’s College. We are thankful for our diverse old scholar community who can continue to
inspire new generations of graduates.
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Lorna Starrs joined the St Mary’s College community in
Term 2, 2011, as Deputy Principal. She has recently been appointed Director of Teacher Development at
St Columba College, beginning in 2023. In that role, Lorna will support and develop the professional growth
and capability of teachers across their professional journey. St Columba has a large cohort of early career
teachers; mentoring them in the first years of their work will be a key part of the role.
During
her time as Deputy Principal at St Mary’s College, Lorna has led portfolios in student wellbeing,
care education, student leadership, the development of Professional Learning Communities and the establishment
of the school performance and development framework for staff. She has set up systems for the induction
of volunteers and new staff, and developed mentoring for our early career and pre-service teachers. In
recent years, as Safeguarding Coordinator, Lorna has led the critically important work of our child protection
culture.
In all that she does, Lorna brings a commitment to excellence. She is a constant presence
at school events and loves connecting with students and the parent community. Teaching Year 12 has remained
one of the greatest passions in her work. A sense of fun and a commitment to being in relationship are
hallmarks of her work. Lorna’s depth and breadth of experience across several R-12 schools will
be a great asset to her new community. Later this year, we will have the opportunity to celebrate her
contribution to St Mary’s and wish her well before she leaves at the end of this year.
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Work Experience Placement: Home of the Crocodile Hunter - Australia Zoo
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St Mary’s Year 10 student, Jade, recently undertook her
work experience placement at Australia Zoo on the Gold Coast. Jade is an outspoken environmentalist who
strongly advocates for the preservation, restoration and improvement of our natural environment to protect
animal and plant species. She is passionate about reducing the impact of destructive human practices,
such as poaching, illegal animal trade, land clearing, and climate change.
Jade’s passion
and admiration for the late Steve Irwin and his family’s tireless work in animal conservation inspired
her to apply under Australia Zoo’s work experience program. Australia Zoo’s ‘
High School Program’ offers students a 4-day placement, four times each year. Jade was thrilled
to learn that she was 1 of the 10 students accepted to volunteer and undertake work experience. The application
and interview process involved sharing her interests, strengths, goals and future career ambitions.
Jade travelled to Queensland with her mum for the work experience where the Volunteer Coordinator
led induction and familiarisation with the zoo. Students visited the exotic animals in the African exhibits,
and Jade learned about specific animals’ behaviours, diets, nutritional requirements and habitats.
She worked behind the scenes preparing food for meerkats and the Southern White Rhinoceros’ and
even got to feed a giraffe!
The other three days involved a tour of the Wildlife Hospital and
learning about how the zoo cares for, rehabilitates and releases injured sea turtles, platypus, echidnas
and other Australian fauna. Jade learned about the different conservation programs Australia Zoo supports,
such as the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, Koala Conservation, Grey Nurse Shark Conservation, Cambodian
Elephant Conservation, Rhino Conservation, Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit and more. Jade enjoyed shadowing
the zoo keepers and learning about their work and specific animal species.
Jade’s favourite
task was observing the zoo keepers training the parrots for the Bird Show and learning about each bird
species’ skills, for example, the blue-and-gold Macaws are good problem solvers. Another highlight
for Jade was seeing Steve Irwin's son, Robert, at the food court at the Crikey Café. Jade’
s work experience will be something she will always fondly remember!
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