{"id":22207,"date":"2026-09-17T12:16:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T02:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/?post_type=article&p=22207"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T02:16:38","slug":"college-principal-54","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/ssc\/article\/college-principal-54\/","title":{"rendered":"College Principal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

‘Catholic schools exist not merely to instruct the young in faith and Christian morality, but to form them entirely so that they may become what Christianity requires them to be. \u2026It means integration: the bringing together of intellect, conscience, character, and faith into a coherent human person. Leo XIV inherits and deepens this tradition. He writes that Catholic school must be a place where questions are not silenced, and doubt not banished, but accompanied. Formation is not the imposition of answers but the cultivation of a searching, integrated human person.<\/em>‘
Patrick O\u2019Regan, Archbishop of Adelaide,
Address to Trustees and Governors of Catholic Schools, Archdiocese of Adelaide, 2 June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These last few weeks have seen our students shine in their Catholic Dominican education \u2013 one that encourages questioning, listening and contemplation in respectful dialogue with others. This openness to learning that integrates intellect, conscience, character and faith enables our children and adolescents to see themselves as active contributors to human flourishing. Their ideas matter. Their values matter. Their voices matter. And collectively they can make a positive impact in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week saw Primary students stretch themselves in learning with incursions that explored Mathematical problem-solving and Aboriginal perspectives, deepened critical thinking through Ethics Olympiad and STEM Day, whilst showcasing students’ ability to articulate their own ideas with clarity with the Public Speaking Finals and the Finals of IPSHA Debating. The real reward was in watching the response of student peers, teachers and families in affirming each of the speakers \u2013 not for any one particular viewpoint \u2013 but in recognition of the courage and confidence it takes for a young person to take to a platform and engage with sharing one\u2019s voice, trusting that it will be listened to with openness and respect.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week Year 6 students have enjoyed a visit to our national capital, Canberra, where policies are debated and laws are passed. In a world where young people often hear political commentary that appears to polarise rather than seek understanding, or divide rather than unite for a common good, it is important that their learning in community, at school and at home integrates intellect and values grounded in a faith that recognises God\u2019s love for all creation. Their experience is also giving them time in Tallong, a place we hope nurtures the spirit with its natural beauty and familiar warmth as a second home to which students return time again in their journey through Santa. It is this breadth of experience we hope contributes to the formation of the whole human person, immersed in thinking, in relationships, in their world and prayerfully aware they are accompanied by a God who calls them to the fullness of living a purposeful life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the secondary campus, Year 10 Commerce students demonstrated their entrepreneurial skills marketing their goods with $3500 profit going to Kopanang whilst Year 12 students have enthralled us in the showcasing of their Major Works. These independent practical, performance or research projects offer students the intellectual and creative freedom to explore personal interests, challenge ideas and design solutions. Students’ works were impressive for the rigour with which they explored complex intellectual frameworks, philosophy, social or historical commentary. Whether expressed through Dance, Drama, Visual Art, Textiles, Design and Technology or the writing of a historical investigation or literary text, students articulated their own personal voice following a process of questioning, reframing and expanding their cognitive thinking to speak as a person with a social conscience. Beyond the classroom, we have seen these same young women of the Class of 2026 lead their student peers in advocating for the poor and marginalised through lunchtime House Salamanca projects, Winter Sleep Out, Homeroom R U OK Day <\/em>conversations or in leading their music ensembles and sporting teams. This 2026 cohort leaves a legacy of generosity in sharing their minds and hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students often seek opportunities to engage in discourse about matters that impact the world in which they live. Locally, attention has been drawn to Strathfield Council\u2019s decision to remove wording of Acknowledgement of Country from its boundary markers prompting calls for consultation with Indigenous people and the wider community. This week\u2019s incident of a man accused of verbally abusing a teenage student wearing a hijab whilst riding on a bus route in the Strathfield precinct has evoked the empathy of many of our students who equally expect a safe and respectful passage to school. Weekly, our students and families provide sandwiches and snack packs for those whose budgets do not afford regular meals, whilst senior students have the opportunity to volunteer for St Vincent de Paul Night Patrol or Mathew Talbot Hostel, discovering that human connections are what matter most.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Santa, students have the opportunity to opt in to student-led or co-curricular groups to explore respectful avenues for civic engagement or social justice action. Whilst our teaching and learning environments are grounded in gospel values of compassion and love for all persons, our mandated curriculum is delivered in the Dominican tradition of disputatio <\/em>in which learners are invited to listen carefully to diverse views to understand those views more fully with a goal of communion of people in a shared pursuit of truth rather than winning an argument. In integrating the provocation of intellectual curiosity with a commitment to ethical principles and moral integrity, our education seeks to form the whole human person. And we are not alone.\u00a0 A recent Student Flourishing in Australian Christian Schools<\/a> research project [Iselin, D.J. (2026) Christian Schools Australia. Canberra, ACT] surveyed over 22,000 high school students across 57 Christian schools. The report highlights the importance of learning engagement, spiritual formation, service-learning, volunteering and civic and social engagement in student flourishing, and points to the importance of schools as relational and formative communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, a few of us had the privilege of attending the Dominican Education Australia <\/em>Symposium in Adelaide. The theme was ‘Faithful to the Mission, Bold for the Future<\/em>‘, inviting us to renew our commitment to Dominic\u2019s preaching of the Gospel and challenging us to be bold in educating with confidence, creativity and hope in an ever-changing and digitalised world so that human flourishing remains central. The highlight of the symposium was the inclusion of student voice. Whilst it was wonderful to have students from the three Adelaide schools participate in panel discussions, we were so very proud to have taken our Santa Sabina students’ voices with us via video. The DEA Chair commended our students (including both Primary and Secondary students) on the authenticity of their insights and creativity of their delivery. When pondering upon what artefacts might represent their time of schooling, they speculated Frank Greens and messy handwriting, but when challenged to consider their hopes for learning one student provided a succinct insight ‘AI is nothing without us, we don’t want to be nothing without AI’ arguing for the need for deep thinking and contemplation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Class of 2026 looks to their final week of schooling and we look forward to celebrating their graduation as a College community alongside them, I share some of their own voice captured in their Graduate Survey. Whilst the time will come when we offer deserved commendation to their HSC and IB academic performances, now is the time to applaud what they have identified themselves as their most consistently valued take-aways from Santa.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n