From the College Captains

Words by Bridget Bales and Alexandra Grieve

As we reflect on our year of Justice, we are grateful for the opportunities the role as College Captains has provided us, and have felt nothing but joy when representing Loreto. Leading such a spectacular group of individuals and creating endless amounts of school spirit within the school community is something we are extremely proud of.

From the beginning, we developed goals not only for ourselves as leaders, but also how we wanted the school environment to look and feel – a place where everyone felt safe and supported, encouraged to be their true authentic selves, and for us to be Captains who were approachable, listening to student voices and creating an environment of long lasting memories.

We believe we have achieved this by getting behind special events and activities, encouraging whole college involvement, such as Valentine’s Day dances, pieing the teachers at GB Day and our whole school Mary Ward Treasure hunt. We feel we have achieved these goals and couldn’t be happier with the amount of involvement, enthusiasm, and positivity shown within the College grounds throughout the year.

We hope that the spirit of this year will leave a long-lasting impact that others can build on in future years and stamp a new chapter for our culture and an embodiment of the integral values at Loreto College. We want to thank all students for being encouraging, passionate and willing peers, embracing all we have offered with generosity and belief in us as leaders. We have been privileged to create stronger relationships and connections with each year level and treasure the time we had with everyone at the College.

At the beginning of the year, the senate created a vision, which began with the SEN23 motto. ‘We are the trail blazers through embodying spirit, impactful and collaboration to create our legacy’ We believe this is something we can all wholeheartedly agree that we, as a Senate, have achieved. Along the way there have been lots of laughs, initiatives, and times where we saw the College spirit lift and we are proudly leaving on a positive note.

We both would like to acknowledge the guidance and support we have felt from all the staff at Loreto College including Ms Broderick and the leadership team, along with our families for allowing us to be the leaders we set out to be. A special mention to our ‘College Mum’, Ms Kate Martin. Her care for each and every one of us has not gone unnoticed and we have appreciated the time and ongoing effort she has made to make our Senate group as close as we are today.

Thanks to our splendid Senate, we have loved and appreciated having them as the backbone and support which has enabled our captaincy to be such a memorable and enjoyable journey, we couldn’t thank them enough for the dedication they have shown, and we will always be grateful for the friendships we have made. We wish the new fun and fantastic Senate all the best as they start their new chapter in the leadership world. They will make incredible leaders and we can’t wait to see what they do in the year to come.

Best wishes to our 2024 Captains, Bella and Steph, who have such exciting times ahead. We know the College is in safe hands and their qualities will help them lead the school with spirit and passion in the year of Sincerity. We know that they will be inspiring and kind-hearted leaders.

To the Year 7s, we hope we have made this first year a memorable and exciting one and you all thrive through the years at Loreto College. We can remember our time sitting where you are now and we ask that you embrace and try new things, and channel this all throughout your time at Loreto, because it really goes by so quickly.

A special mention to our Year 12s, you have all been amazing individuals and the abundance of love from you all has been so significant to us. We feel lucky to have gone through this chapter with all of you and are grateful for Loreto College to be a place where these connections have strengthened. We do apologise that we were unable to provide chocolate milk in the school bubble taps (as promised last year) but hope our other efforts and most of all, our positive leadership outweighs this. We do hope that all students have felt well led, supported, inspired, and enthused to continue to be part of our wonderful Loreto College community. As Mother Gonzaga Barry said, ‘Leave after you something which others may build’, a message that we feel truly encapsulates our journey as leaders here at Loreto, and for future generations to know the privilege of being a ‘Loreto girl’.

So, we would like to finally express our gratitude to everyone for giving us the opportunity to serve as the 2023 Loreto College Captains. We have loved every moment of representing Loreto. We can both say this has been the most rewarding and greatest experience for each of us. We step down as the 2023 College Captains with full hearts and sincerely thank everyone at Loreto College for the contribution you have allowed us to make this year.