T (07) 3394 9999 Absentee Line (07) 3394 9964 E email@loreto.qld.edu.au W www.loreto.qld.edu.au PO Box 1726 Coorparoo DC Qld 4151
Volume 6 - 4 March, 2014 Dear Parents and Students This week holds much to look forward to for us including "Mary Ward Connect"; the Council Oration on "Sincerity" with Sr Anne Kelly; the opening of our Tuckshop refurbishment; the Year 8 Retreat ; Health & PE Week; “Barry Potter” day; and the final frenetic week of preparation for the Musical. We welcome to Loreto six students each from Loreto Kirribilli in Sydney and Loreto Marryatville in Adelaide, together with their visiting teachers. I thank the families who have kindly opened their homes to host these girls and for taking the extra effort to show them something of our beautiful city whilst they are here. "Mary Ward Connect", is an exchange program that connects our Loreto Schools in Australia, so we also have twelve of our own Year 10's visiting either Loreto Kirribilli or Loreto Marryatville this week. We wish these students and their supervising teachers Mrs Dawes and Mrs Cody, a fabulous and enriching time. I know that they will come back to us with lots of stories to share. Personally, I have spent time working in both of these fine schools so I can say with great confidence that the girls will be delighted with what they experience and observe. We wish all participants safe travel. Tonight, Sr Anne Kelly ibvm will offer the annual Council Oration on the theme of "Sincerity". As a former Principal of both Loreto Kirribilli and Loreto Coorparoo it is marvellous to have her with us as an extension of our "Mary Ward Connect" program. Sr Anne’s recent placements include working with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Northern Uganda; working in support of women’s education in Dili in Timor Leste; and most recently Sr Anne represented the Loreto Sisters in New York where they hold a position as a NGO on the UN. These experiences should provide a rich background for tonight's address. I thank Sr Anne for her generous presence. I offer my special thanks to the Year Nine Leaders who tonight will be our hostesses. This week I return to school, along with 14 other staff, having spent three glorious days with our beautiful Year 12's on Retreat. What a pleasure and a privilege it is to have had this time together exploring our spirituality, our connectedness, our possibilities, our sense of self and our relationship with God. These retreats form a vital part of our Loreto mission to educate the whole person. They present marvellous opportunities for us to think more deeply and more purposefully about who and what we are and what it is that gives meaning to our lives. They are a gift of time, in a world of pace. I offer sincere and heartfelt thanks to each staff member for his or her generous commitment and presence. Particular thanks I offer to retreat leaders and coordinators, Mr Donnelly and Mr McAlinden, both of whom did a truly marvellous job.
Justice
Freedom
SINCERITY
Verity
Felicity