By Mrs Liisa Hammond, Principal

Gospel Mark 6: 7-13

This week’s Gospel tells of Jesus sending the Apostles to spread the Good News, drive out demons, and anoint people. They were directed to do so with nothing but The Word and the clothes and sandals they wore.

Interestingly, Jesus states that if there is any place that ignores the Apostles, then they are to “… leave that place and shake the dust off [their] feet …”. This symbolism is fascinating, as feet, within the Bible, often symbolise humility, stability, service, and yet here, Jesus is basically labelling those who are not willing to welcome the Word of God, to be forgotten about – that they were unworthy.

This is excellent advice for our young people.

If someone is not open to what you have to say or does not treat you with respect, then it is essential to evaluate whether they are worthy of the work it will take to get them to listen or respect you.

In enrolment interviews, I speak to each young person about my two main jobs as their Principal. They are:

1. Keep everyone safe: our young people, our staff, our families, and the community members who join us.
2. Ensure opportunities for success – no matter the pathway – All ways, for Always!

When I speak about the issue of safety, I am firm in my conviction that this is my primary responsibility. If a member of our community feels safe, then they will feel confident, challenge themselves, try new things, and be open to the opportunity for failure without fearing it.

How does this relate to “… shake the dust off your feet”? For me, it represents the fact that if any member of our community makes someone feel unsafe, then I am responsible for working with the person who feels unsafe so they can reengage with their core business at the College. For the individual who is going against our values and making someone feel unsafe, it is my responsibility to work with that person to support them to meet our standards and deal with whatever was causing them to act in a manner that contravenes who we are as a community. Of course, after we have supported this individual in all the ways that we can, if they continue to choose to act in a manner that goes against our values or that does not meet our standards, then I must make the decision to assist them in finding another community to join. This is not my favourite thing to do as the Principal; however, it is my responsibility to do so, and I have and will continue to do this in my role.

“Shak (ing) the dust off …” is not always easy, and in fact, it is harder more times than it is easy; however, when that time comes, it is important that we are able to do so, maintaining the dignity of all involved and accepting that we do not do this lightly or easily, but we must do it for the betterment of all.

The capacity of our young people to know when to hold on and when to walk away is an essential life skill and one that often grows from experience rather than theory. To meet our moral imperative of ensuring our students are able to live full and flourishing lives, it is necessary to empower them to have the capacity to “… shake the dust off their feet” and walk away from anything that does not align with their values or add value to their journey.

Welcome to Staff 

• Brett Hay - Humanities and English 

• Maryann Meek - Business

• Mia Gould - Drama and English

Farewell to Staff 

At the start of Term 3, we farewell, two staff members: 

• Samirah Bahbahani - Mathematics

• Melaine Gibbons – Humanities and Religion 

Advertising for these positions is underway, and can be found here:

Founders’ Day Wrap Up! 

In our final newsletter for Term 2, 2024, I spoke about our 2024 Senior Student Leaders' outstanding work in their leadership and creation of Founders’ Day. As part of that day, our senior students gathered sponsorship from several businesses within our town. As we know, asking people to sponsor an event or activity is never an easy thing to do – especially within our current economic crisis, so it is with great thanks and respect that we acknowledge the following businesses:

• Brownlie Concretors Pty. Ltd.
• DSK Shed Erection.
• Olsens Produce Pty. Ltd.
• Ray White Rural Warwick
• Spano’s IGA 

You will see the banners of these companies on our front fence in the coming week (as well as corflutes), thanking them for their support not just our Year 12s but also of the Rural Firefighters – the charity our Year 12s chose to support. 

Pastoral Care (PC) Liturgies 

As part of our commitment to creating agency within our young people and their own journeys of faith, we are working towards the students taking ownership of their PC Liturgies. As such, staff have undertaken professional development on what a liturgy is and how we can support our students to create meaningful and relevant liturgies.

What is a Liturgy?

Liturgy originally meant “service in the name of/on behalf of the people”, in Christian tradition, it means the participation of the People of God in the “work of God”. 

- It is what we do together 

- It is not something that simply happens, but it is something that we are involved in; we are engaged with and we participate in

- It is sacred 

- It forms the basis of a relationship with other participants 

- It is relevant to lives of the people who enact the liturgy. 

Shaping and forming of faith habits and behaviours, doesn’t happen accidentally. It needs to be the purposeful work of the people.

Transformation through participate is the key to a liturgy that is engaging and significant.

Students need a role within the service – that can be as a reader or as the operator of a computer, but all must be involved in the meaningful expression of the liturgy. We want them to take ownership of the service so that they will be shaped by the experience.

What to do? 

1. In an extended PC lesson, before students are due to host the liturgy, select a theme on which to base the liturgy. It could be a current issue that young people are facing, a global issue that the world is facing, or even the value of the students' House (Rice, Romero, McAuley or Donovan).

2. Each member/pair of the PC will select a section of the Liturgy to prepare/or randomly select if it is hotly contested.

Each member/pair will design a section focused on the selected theme. It is important to note that the reading and reflection go hand-in-hand. It is recommended that a senior student complete the reflection.

Liturgy sections:

• Entrance—We Gather: This could be a song, prayer, or instrumental music while a poem is read. It sets the scene for the sacredness and connection of the liturgy. It does not need to be a religious hymn, but it does need to create a sense of the sacredness and importance of the gathering. (1 – 2 students).

• Sacred Space—We Prepare: Using the House Cloth and the Candles, students will also gather items for the Sacred Space, items that have significance for their PC and relate to the theme. Students will explain the symbols as they bring them forth and set the Sacred Space (2 – 3 students).

• Reading—We Listen: This does not necessarily mean a Gospel verse or a reading from the Bible, although students are encouraged to do so if they wish. Students can select a picture book, a poem, a short film, a visual image, or any type of reading that resonates with their PC and the theme selected. They will need to read out and/or describe what the image is of and why they selected it (1 – 2 students).

• Reflection – We Reflect: Using the reading as a basis, a senior student writes a reflection for the students to consider. This reflection should begin by connecting the reading to the chosen theme and end with a call to action for our students – be it to do something, consider something or do both. The reflection is read aloud and should only take 2 – 3 minutes to deliver. (1 – 2 students – recommended a senior student/s).

• Prayers of the Faithful – We Ask: Students construct their prayer of the faithful – this is an important part of the liturgy as these prayers form both an act of faith and a plea for God’s intercession and grace in the world. (5 – 6 students – with one student taking the role of the presider and the other students constructing a prayer of the faithful each)

The presider is responsible for writing and reading the introduction and the conclusion to the prayers of the faithful. They are also responsible for ensuring that all respond with the phrase:

Lord, hear our prayer or Gracious God, hear our prayer.

To construct their prayer, students should consider their chosen theme of the liturgy and consider the context of their PC, the College, the town, the state, the country and/or the world. Here are some questions that may help guide the content of their prayer:

- What is the theme of our liturgy – what do I want to ask God for on behalf of our PC that relates to the theme?
- What are the noteworthy national or international news events of the week?
- What challenges are our PC, College, town world, etc., facing that we need support to endure/overcome or succeed in?
- What are some of the chronic problems we face at home, at school, in our local community, and in our nation that we would like support for?
- Are there any special events or causes we would like to be aware of this week?
- Would we like to pray for any member of our PC, year level, or family this week?

• Blessing – We give our blessings: Students construct their prayer of blessings – a heartfelt invocation seeking divine support, protection and abundance. Students consider who they would like to give thanks to or those they would like to support. This can be as short or as long as the students would like. It could be an action, such as going to the labyrinth for reflection, exploring the iconography around the College, or the Sign of Peace. (1 – 2 students).

• Departure—We Go: Similar to the start of the liturgy, this could be a song, prayer, or instrumental music while a poem is read. It sets the scene for the sacredness and connection of the liturgy. It does not need to be a religious hymn, but it does need to create a sense of the sacredness and importance of the gathering. (1 – 2 students).

May our Mother Mary grant her blessings upon our College Community.