Message From the Principal

As I write my final newsletter as principal of St Patrick’s College Townsville, I feel a great deal of sadness at the thought of leaving this wonderful community. The past five years have been some of the most challenging and most rewarding of my career to date.  When I stepped into the principal role in 2015 I didn’t quite understand just how diverse my role would be nor did I know how much I would come to love the girls and this community. My very favourite memories will always be of the people who I met at this place.  Our girls are the most awesome young women who have taught me so much about different people, places and perspectives. They have a down to earth approach to life, they are joyous, kind and respectful.   I have also enjoyed working alongside the most professional staff motivated to create the best learning environment for our girls. 

Some of the highlights for me over my time at the College have been visiting our boarding communities in the Torres Strait and in the Cape as well as traveling to Papua New Guinea to visit our families and past pupils. Through the relationships I have built with my Aboriginal and Torres Strait girls, I have deepened my understanding about our First Nations Peoples’ culture and traditions, giving me insight and perspectives that I would not have otherwise developed.  There is no doubt that this place and the girls have changed me as a person. Our young women give me hope for the future.  Sadly, while we have come a long way when it comes to gender equity, we still have far to go.  I firmly believe a good education leads to intelligent, confident, compassionate and active citizens and all the programs and initiatives that have been introduced while I have been principal have been to this end. I will forever carry the girls of St Patrick’s College in my heart.  

It is a week of farewells and the Year 12 girls have completed their education with dignity and grace. My wish for them is that their futures are full of adventure and full of discovery. May they enjoy the journey, live in each moment, learn from the wise, travel near and far to see and experience new perspectives, without rushing. I hope they surround themselves with people who love them unconditionally and that they never settle for less than they deserve.

I wish our Year 12 girls well as they begin the next exciting phase of their journey and I leave you with the words of John O’Donohue on beginning, which have provided me with some comfort of late:

There is nothing to fear in the act of beginning.  More often than not it knows the journey ahead better than we ever could.  Perhaps the art of harvesting the secret riches of our live is best achieved when we place profound trust in the act of beginning.  Risk might be our greatest ally.  To live a truly creative life, we always need to cast a critical look at where we presently are, attempting always to discern where we have become stagnant and where new beginning might be ripening.  There can be no growth if we do not remain open and vulnerable to what is new and different.  I have never seen anyone take a risk for growth that was not rewarded a thousand times over.

 

(Excerpt from To Bless the Space Between Us (US)/Benedictus (Europe)

Blessing

Paulina Skerman

College Principal

P&F  – Farewell Evening for College Principal, Ms Paulina Skerman

Please join us to thank and celebrate the achievements of College Principal, Ms Paulina Skerman. Ms Skerman departs at the end of this academic year to take up a new role as College Principal of Santa Sabina College in Sydney. Ms Skerman has been credited with the revitalisation of the College over the past five years, and will be greatly missed. She leaves a legacy of positive change and a lasting reputation of St Patrick’s College Townsville as the school of choice for young women of the north. Please join the P&F Association, Staff and parents for light refreshments in the Cafe by the Sea on Thursday November 21 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.