Term 3 Assembly

Our Term 3 Assembly that was held on Tuesday 16 August was a wonderful celebration of student achievement in a range of areas including STEM, Debating, Languages, English and Food Technology.  As part of this assembly, we marvelled at the musical talents of Tara Le who delivered a breathtaking performance of “The Merry Go Round of Life” on the piano and our Senior Ensemble who under the direction of Ms Rebecca Harkin entertained us with a fantastic rendition of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”  In this year of compassion, our College Co-Captains, Alice Merchant and Francesca Malignaggi, reminded us of the importance of practising social compassion, in particular to the vulnerable and marginalised members of our society, and how the ‘Happy Box’ initiative developed by the Living Justice Student Leadership Group was an opportunity for us to make a meaningful impact on the lives of others.  Amy Goodchild hosted the assembly and acknowledged the fabulous contributions students had made to life at Kilbreda this term, whilst Sarah Donlon, Madison Gatt and Shannen Carty discussed Brigidine Day 2022 and the College’s desire to raise $10 000 for Wellsprings for Women, a Kildare Ministries Community Work.  Thank you to all staff and students involved in this significant College event.

Reflections on Camino De Santiago

Recently I was inspired by Sister Lia Commadeur to undertake the final stage of the Camino de Santiago, a 130km pilgrimage from Sarria in Spain to the town of Santiago where the tomb of the apostle St James lies.  This experience was a transformative one and at our Term 3 Assembly I shared with students some of my reflections on the lessons I learnt along the way.  This included the importance of striving to live in the moment, focus on the now and not worrying too much about the future or the past, appreciating the simple things in life, living our dreams and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through us.

Child Safety

On 1 July 2022, Ministerial Order 1359 was implemented in all Victorian Schools.  This order involved the introduction of 11 new Child Safe Standards and was developed to provide guidance to school governing authorities in relation to how to reduce or eliminate the risk of child abuse occurring.  The key changes to the previous Child Safe Standards include:

• involving families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe;
• a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people; and
• to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments.

The College is committed to ensuring the safety of all students in our care.  Thus, over the course of this year a key priority will be on educating our students on these standards, including how to keep themselves safe in online environments or support services available within the College and the local community should the need arise.

I look forward to seeing you at the various events we have coming up this term and thank you for trusting us with the education of your young people.

Stephanie Smyth
Assistant Principal: Wellbeing and Engagement