From the Principal – Ms Janine Kenney
Welcome and greetings to all the Mary MacKillop Catholic College Community members,
One of the most enjoyable aspects of holidays is looking forward to them and, for the students, the prospect of having time to enjoy themselves with their family and friends. So, here we are; the holidays are long gone, and we are all left wondering what happened to them. Fortunately for the students, returning to school is a little like coming to a “home away from home” in that they return to their friends in the school community. Helen Rowland described home as “any four walls that enclose the right person”. It has also been said that a school is “a room with four walls, with tomorrow inside”. Each description suggests that the people inside the walls are the real essence of what makes a home or a school.
A Catholic school is a true community of persons. It may adopt good administration models and practices, but it is not merely a business that produces an educational product. Mary MacKillop Catholic College aims to provide opportunities for students to explore, reflect and integrate a Catholic understanding of nature, self, society and God and to manifest this in their lives through behaviours based on love, truth and forgiveness.
The staff at Mary MacKillop want to assist each of its students, your daughters, in developing a robust and positive self-concept by providing a supportive environment based on respect for the person and sensitivity to individual differences. It wants to provide its students and parents with the experience of a Catholic community at worship, work and play.
Though parents are the prime educators of their children, the education of a child is not the sole responsibility of the parent or the school; it is a happy and informed combination of both. So, it is vital that parents are one with the school as it endeavours to foster each student’s growth and relationship with Christ.
Even though we are now halfway through the term, and I have already welcomed our new students at our Opening College Assembly and our new Year 7 parents at our information evening, I extend a warm welcome to you again. I also welcome back all our other students and families. I hope 2024 will be marked by a spirit of generosity and goodwill in our school community as we work together to nurture and educate your daughters.
I take this opportunity to express my delight at joining the Mary MacKillop Catholic College community and thank everyone for making me feel so welcome.
We ask God to bless our school community as we begin our journey together for 2024, and we look forward to God’s guidance over the coming year. I wish you all a very productive and successful school year.
Reflection on Lent
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
The Season of Lent, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is, for the Church, a most valuable and important liturgical time. Every day is a constant invitation to a loving relationship with God. Lent is a particular time of year when we can deepen that relationship. It is a time when we can seek to respond to God’s initiative of loving us first.
The action of reading God’s Word, sharing each other’s lives and the building of our relationships with each other, is the very living and breathing way of God being active in our lives and our world. All of these actions through God lead us to a new life, a transformed life, with a renewed heart, as we have been promised.
Let us pray that this Lent will help us reproduce the self-sacrificing love of Christ in our lives. Through our observance of Lent, please help us to understand the meaning of your Son’s death and resurrection and teach us to reflect it in our lives.
Opening College Mass
On Wednesday, 6 March, we gathered as a community to celebrate the beginning of our 34th academic year at Mary MacKillop Catholic College. It was a wonderful gathering of community where we were able to ask for the Lord’s blessing on all of our endeavours this year. My thanks go to Fr Peter Strohmayer PP, St Gertrude’s Smithfield and Fr Ben Gandy, Our Lady of the Rosary Fairfield, for celebrating the Mass with us.
In his homily, Fr Ben challenged us this Lent to be a community and to see our faith in Christ as that which binds us together and makes us one.
I thank Mrs Flanagan and Mr Carosi for their preparation and assistance on the day. Thanks also to those involved in music ministry, Eucharistic ministry and ministry of the Word.
I also wish to thank Sr Judith Sippel, Sr Jan Barnett of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and Ms Emilia Nicholas from the Josephite Justice Network for joining us on this very special occasion.
Before the commencement of the Eucharistic celebration, five of the College Houses were decommissioned, and 6 Houses were commissioned in a very moving ceremony. This brings about a new chapter in the life of Mary MacKillop Catholic College, one in which we are called to thrive in our faith, learning, and well-being.
Happy International Women’s Day – 8 March
What is International Women’s Day? International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when all women are recognised for their achievements. International Women’s Day was first born out of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe.
Since those early days, International Women’s Day has grown in prominence and reach, touching women in every corner of the world. The growing international women’s movement has helped make International Women’s Day a central point for action to build support for women’s rights and their full participation in the economy, politics, community and everyday life.
As a College, we celebrate and recognise the many women who are a part of our College community and the wonderful contribution they make each and every day.
Mary MacKillop Catholic College is dedicated to developing young women who have the courage to grow in their academic, faith and social maturity and go out into the world to make a difference.
