As Term 2 comes to a close, it is worth reflecting on the many and varied achievements of these past few months – with a view to an aspirational focus on the remainder of the year.
On Wednesday 15 May, Whitefriars College joined with 12 other ACC schools to showcase Art and Technology 2024. This exhibition was held at Federation Square in the Atrium and The Edge and was open to the public for a week. It featured over 250 works by students across all year levels, showcasing the talent and creativity of our students across the various schools. Congratulations to our chosen students that had their work displayed at this amazing and highly acclaimed venue. It is a real honour to recognise the students listed below. Another highlight to this evening was the speech made by Phil Deane our Visual Arts Captain, who spoke of his journey and encouragement to anyone who has a passion for the Arts and to take advantage of the opportunities that Whitefriars Offers.
As you may remember the three tenets of the Carmelite ethos are Contemplation, Community and Service. These are not just some fluffy words we place on our letterhead and in PowerPoint presentations, they are words steeped in over eight hundred years of tradition. The words were first initiated on a small mountain in Israel called Mt. Carmel by a group of hermits who devoted their lives to Jesus and the community they served. These were people understood what it truly meant to live in community. A community founded on unconditional love, trust, faith, justice, respect, empathy, compassion and mercy. Eight hundred years later, I have the joy every day of seeing these values lived out by students, parents and staff at Whitefriars whose words and actions enhance and grow the Carmelite culture of Contemplation, Community and Service.
This week our College came together to reflect and pray on the meaning of Easter in our lives at our annual Easter Liturgical Celebration. The recurring theme which emerged from this celebration was one of hope. There is no doubt that our world is currently consumed with feelings of hopelessness. We crave good news stories that inspire hope in our lives. The Good news of our Easter story is that God Loved the world so much that he sent his son Jesus to be hope for the world. Jesus’ love for us was so great that he gave his life for us and was raised from the dead to give us hope and new life and to inspire us to be hope for others.
The beginning of the school year is one full of activity and possibility, of relationship building, refocussing and reconnecting. It is particularly a time of gathering. Coming together as a College is one of the most vital elements in building a strong and vibrant community of learning, life and faith here at Whitefriars. Over the past couple of weeks our College community has gathered together on many occasions to celebrate achievement, participate in community building activities and to pray.
I am very please to present to you the first In Fide Newsletter for 2024. I commend it to you as a wonderful source of information about the life of our great school. The first few weeks of any school seem to move at a frenetic pace. At Whitefriars, we have hit the ground running with the likes of Staff Professional Learning Days, induction of our newest Year 7 students and students new to other year levels, welcome assembly for our Year 7 students, new staff and commissioning of our 2024 school leaders, Year 7 camp, a number of parent information evenings, Opening School Mass and Ash Wednesday service, the commencement of House gathering masses and not to mention the beginning of academic classes and cocurricular programs. It’s enough to make your head spin!