November – the Month of Remembrance

The month of November is traditionally a time in which the Catholic community remembers those who have died. It is related to the fact that the end of November is the end of the Liturgical Year with a new year starting on the First Sunday of Advent – the four-week period of preparation before Christmas.

Last week, on 2 November, we held what was a lovely All Souls Day Mass, celebrated by Fr Peter, before the commencement of the school day. Those gathered remembered and gave thanks for the people who have gone before us, but through their presence had a lasting impact in our lives.

This morning, as a College community, we paused to commemorate our service men and women who have served and those who have died during wars and peacekeeping operations. Several of our Year 11 students led our Remembrance Day Service which was held at the flagpole and live streamed throughout the College. The service concluded with our National Anthem, which was beautifully sung by 2023 College Co-Captain, Sienna Koop. Later in the morning, our Year 7 Student Leaders represented the College at the Mentone RSL Service where members of our Junior and Senior Choirs, under the direction of Ms Rabbetts, led those gathered in the singing of the National Anthem.

This week we hosted our inaugural ‘Celebration of Learning Evening’ where our Year 9 students showcased their learning to parents and carers. It was fantastic to listen to original music compositions, to marvel at their artistic talents, to view their inspirational videos for change and to learn about the key skills our Year 9 students had acquired through each of the BRIDGES units undertaken. Thank you to all of our Year 9 students who contributed to the design and development of the evening, to all parents and carers who were in attendance and to Mrs Melanie Marsh, Mrs Jane Ward and Ms Kara-Lee Rabbetts for the guidance and support they extended to our Year 9 students as they worked to transform our Kildare Centre into a vibrant and engaging gallery of learning.

Congratulations to our ‘Teen Chef’ teams, comprised of Year 10 and Year 11 students, who were awarded a bronze medallion for their incredible dishes at a recent competition held at Killester College.  Congratulations to Year 8 students, Belinda Gledhill, Amelia Meure, Sia Seguel and Eloise Holborn, who recently made it to the semi-finals in the Australia Video Game Challenge for their work in designing and creating the ‘Celestial Chiefs’ network.  We look forward to continuing to celebrate the creative and critical thinking skills of our students in the coming weeks and even more teams participating in collaborative design challenges.

As the Unit 3/4 VCAA examinations begin to draw to a close, students in Years 9, 10 and 11 are preparing for the commencement of their end of semester examinations. These examinations will enable students to demonstrate their learning over the course of the semester, refine their revision techniques and practise their examination writing skills.  We wish all students the very best for their upcoming examinations.

In the coming week we will start our appeal for the St. Vincent de Paul Christmas hampers.  We encourage all families to get behind it.  This is a wonderful opportunity for us to go beyond this community, to think of those in need, as we enter closer to the time of Advent and preparation for the Christmas season.

Adaptation of St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians

As we approach the end of the school year, let us consider all the blessings that we have as members of the Kilbreda community and what we bring to it, and therefore, how much we receive from it.

We are all parts of one body.  Mathematicians and musicians, dancers and dreamers, year level coordinators and learning leaders. 
We’re all parts of one body.  Students and singers, parents and our principal, teachers and learning diversity assistants. 
We are all parts of one body. Homework Tutors and Student Wellbeing Leaders, the Development Office Team and Finance staff, sports stars and scientists. 
We’re all parts of one body. Counsellors and Canteen staff, the Maintenance Team and our AFL Trainees, Administrators and Artists.
When one rejoices, we all rejoice. When one suffers, we all suffer. We are all parts of one body in Christ.  Amen.

We Pray For

We ask for your prayers for members of our community and their families who have recently lost loved ones:

Jocelyn Plate
Sister of Fiona Vella (Staff)

Giuseppe (Joseph) Montesanti
Father-in-Law of Kylie Montesanti (Staff)

We pray that our loving God hold them gently in the palm of His hand.

Nicole Mangelsdorf
Principal