Warmer weather makes a real difference to our mood and demeanor. It has been so nice over the last few days to be able to enjoy some sunshine. I was very grateful that the weather was so nice for the week of 5 August when we celebrated JJAMM (Joseph Julian and Mary MacKillop) Week. We celebrate in this week as Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day is on 8 August and our celebratory Mass and College Fair is the highlight of the week. Our Feast Day Mass was held on Friday 9 August. It was a beautiful eucharistic celebration and I am very thankful to Archpriest Fr Michael Kalka and Fr Binh Le for celebrating Mass with us.

This week is an important week for us as a Josephite school, it is a week where we reflect on who we are as a Catholic and Josephite community and who we are called to be. It is a week where we also look beyond ourselves and raise money for organisations that support the disadvantaged, marginalised and poor. Mary MacKillop was a woman who worked all her life to do just that. She challenges us to never see a need without doing something about it. Although we had a lot of fun during the week, it is important that we remember that the reason as to why we were having fun was to raise money to support MacKillop Family Services, an organisation that provides support for the most vulnerable families and young people. Thank you to everyone who were so enthusiastically involved in all the activities during JJAMM Week and Feast Day.

Twenty-six years ago, Mount St. Joseph Girls College and Holy Spirit Seirei High School in Nagoya, Japan, commenced an exchange program. This program was not your typical exchange program. The idea behind this program was about promoting peace and goodwill. Unfortunately, there are still many parts of our world that are at war. Peace for so many people has not been a reality for many, many years. As people of faith, Jesus has called us to ‘love one another as I have loved you’; this is the message that we must all live by and promote in our world. This is the message that the Holy Spirit Seirei High School and MSJ Peace Program is all about. The relationship established between our two schools has been based on a commitment to promoting peace and goodwill in our world. It is also about learning about each other’s country, culture and customs and building strong friendships.

We were delighted to welcome back on 26 July after an absence of four years our Seirei sisters. It was fabulous to have them as part of our community for ten days. The friendships that were developed between the students will endure for years to come. My thanks to the many families who hosted these young women from Japan. My thanks also to the many staff who supported this program.

As you are aware, Year 7-10 Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences will take place on Thursday 29 August (3.40pm – 8.00pm) face-to-face and on Friday 30 August (8.30am – 2.00pm) online. Please note that Friday 30 August is a student-free day.

Kate Dishon

2023 Annual Report to the School Community (ARSC) is now available

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