Dear St Mary’s College,

As I head towards the end of my time here at St Mary’s College as Deputy Principal, after 12 and a half years, I find myself reflecting on my time, the array of experiences I have had, and the people I have met. It’ s a significant time for me to move on, especially to a co-ed joint Catholic/Anglican school, given that I have worked in three all-girls schools for 24 years, two of which have been Dominican.

Being a leader in a Catholic all-girls school was a natural progression in my life journey. When I look back over my life, one of the most significant decisions my parents made was to send me to an all-girls school for Years 11 and 12. It was here that I felt that I gained my confidence and voice, which empowered and encouraged me to go into youth work and then teaching, supporting both my faith and leadership development, leading me ultimately to St Mary’s College.

For the first eight years of my time here, I worked in student wellbeing with staff, students, and their families, introducing programmes and initiatives to support and enhance student wellbeing and developing their social and emotional learning. During this time, we implemented the Positive Education Framework, introduced the ‘Keeping them Safe: Child Protection Curriculum’, increased the number of student counsellors, and developed our Wellbeing Centre, amongst many other initiatives.

I then moved into the area of People, Culture and Organisation, which has involved working with early career and new teachers, being Safeguarding Children Coordinator, working with student teachers, policy development, and the day-to-day things that come up in an R - 12 College.

The St Mary’s End of Year Eucharist Celebration, colloquially known to students and staff as EYEC (eye-yak), is a special time in the year when the community can come together in one place to celebrate.

Eucharist comes from the Greek word ‘eucharistia’ , meaning ‘thanksgiving’, which is what EYEC is about. EYEC is a joyful and meaningful way of formally acknowledging and celebrating everything that every individual has achieved throughout the school year. EYEC is a significant expression of our Catholic Dominican identity and a chance to showcase our ethos. It’s a wonderful way to bring the school year to a close and an opportunity to look forward to next year.

The community attends a mass followed by a graduation dinner and ceremony for Year 12 students, their families, and their teachers. The Music department enriches our liturgical celebration, with music students and choir sharing their gifts and talents as active participants.

We are delighted to share that Kate Bawden will be the new Deputy Principal at St Mary’s College, beginning Term 1, 2023.

Kate is currently Head of Campus at Sacred Heart College, Champagnat Campus, where she has also held the role of Director of Teaching and Learning. She has strong teaching and leadership experience in girls’ education through her time at Marymount College. In her leadership roles at Marymount, Kate was instrumental in the merger of Marymount College with Sacred Heart College and the subsequent transition of the girls to the new campus.

Kate is a member of the St Ann’s Catholic Parish. She holds Graduate Certificates in Catholic Education and Asia Studies and a Master of Theology.

In the appointment process, Kate expressed a strong vision of relational leadership with a commitment to building trust and rapport with students, staff and her team. She has excellent credentials in leading learning, including establishing a whole school pedagogy guided by Visible Learning (St Mary’s is in the first year of this program). Kate is comfortable working restoratively with students and shows good awareness of building a culture of safeguarding. Her referees spoke highly of her work with parents in supporting students, working through issues, and building community engagement.

We look forward to welcoming Kate to our community in 2023.

At a recent professional learning session with our staff, we launched our Wellbeing Framework and associated policies, classroom tools and curriculum. The suite of resources includes:

• Wellbeing Framework - capturing our educational rationale and understanding of wellbeing as integral to learning
• Building Respectful Relationships: Behaviour Education and Student Behaviour Support Policy
• Countering Bullying and Harassment Policy
• Restorative Practices Procedure
• Student Grievance Procedures R-4 and 5-12
• WRAP Curriculum

Two of our Year 10 students were instrumental in the team that developed the Catholic Education Learn Well Framework. In that process, one of them stated:

"I think wellbeing and learning go hand in hand. Without a positive wellbeing, you can’t effectively learn, and you can’t be good at wellbeing without learning how. To be in a space to learn mentally is so important; without positive wellbeing or a positive mindset, you can’t be an effective listener or learner."

Being in a positive state of wellbeing includes feeling connected, seen and cared for at school. Therefore, we prioritise relationship education as part of our wellbeing programs.