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FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends of the St Gregory’s College Community,
Welcome to the first edition of ‘Hearts & Minds’ for 2022. I am pleased to report that we have enjoyed an excellent start to the year. With the lifting of many restrictions this year, we have been able to return to running many traditional events and activities that have not been possible in the last couple of years. Examples of these wonderful community gatherings have included: Art Attack; Mother’s Day Liturgies and Breakfasts; Careers Expo; Boarding Family Weekend; Cocktail Evenings; College Open Day; School Camps; Old Boys’ Events; Lunch on the Lawn and Public Speaking and Debating. There have been several events from the first half of 2022 for which I will provide a brief snapshot, with some of these also featured in more detail within this publication. On Monday 6 June we joined as a community in the Br Luke Hall to celebrate Mass for the Feast of St Marcellin Champagnat. We were very blessed to have Bishop Brian Mascord, Bishop of Wollongong as the chief celebrant along with five concelebrating Priests. It was a wonderful celebration of our Catholic faith, and it also provided the opportunity to reflect on the enduring influence of St Marcellin Champagnat in this year of the sesquicentenary of Marist education in Australia. During his homily, Bishop Brian captured very salient and powerful messages that both challenged and inspired all of us to think more deeply about how we act and relate to each other and how we can be more truly authentic human beings as we strive to build the Kingdom of God. Following Mass, we highlighted the presence of the members of the Marist Brothers community at Campbelltown. In particular, we acknowledged the committed service of Br Bryan Davis who will conclude his seven-year term as Community Leader at the end of June. Br Bryan has been a wonderful advocate and staunch supporter of the College, having always displayed a warm, open, and welcoming manner. Thank you, Br Bryan, and God bless you in your time beyond St Gregory’s. We also acknowledged Craig and Tracy Braithwaite as the recipients of the Champagnat Community Award. This award recognises exemplary contribution to the life and values of the College by displaying the hallmarks of being Marist through their humility, simplicity, and modesty and demonstrated living out of the characteristics of presence, simplicity, love of work, family spirit, all in the way of Mary. I sincerely congratulate Craig and Tracy Braithwaite who were the very worthy recipients of this award in 2022. Finally, we also presented several students from across the College with
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Champagnat Awards and recognised staff members for their dedicated service to Marist education.
This year the St Gregory’s College Agriculture Department and the College Show Team have achieved some of our best ever results at various agricultural shows, including great successes at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and Dubbo Sheep Show. As you will read from the featured article in this edition, the staff has worked extremely hard to engage an increasing number of students in the program and the students have responded with enthusiasm and have achieved outstanding results. St Gregory’s College was named the most successful school in NSW at a number of these shows, our cattle and sheep have received numerous awards and the number of students gaining ribbons and awards has been incredible. Congratulations to everyone who has played a part in these great achievements. Three outstanding performances of School of Rock were held at the end of second term to capacity audiences in the Br Luke Hall. The cast, crew and all those involved with the musical are to be congratulated for their extensive commitment and perseverance and for bringing together a great production. There was an incredible display of talent, and the enthusiasm was infectious. Congratulations especially to Mrs Jessica Allan as the Musical Director and Mrs Kristy Falas as Producer. Earlier in the year the College celebrated the excellent results of the Year 12 Class of 2021 in the Higher School Certificate. Once again, there were some outstanding individual performances and many courses where the boys attained results significantly above the State mean. In addition, an analysis of
these results demonstrated significant learning gain by the majority of students and, for many of these young men, they achieved their personal best. A summary from the earlier HSC High Achievers publication is provided later in this edition of Hearts and Minds. There is also the opportunity to read the exciting news about the Junior School’s recent formal accreditation as an IB World School to deliver the Primary Years Programme (PYP). Congratulations to Mr Weekes, Mrs Ivancic and all of the members of the Junior School staff who have worked incredibly hard over the past two years to gain this accreditation.
On Friday 5 August there will be the official blessing and opening of the significant capital works that have been under construction across both the Junior School and Senior School. This includes the new extensive undercover sporting courts and outdoor volleyball court in the Junior School, the new entrance way to the Senior School reception, and the new undercover and outdoor basketball, volleyball, and Futsal courts in the Senior School. Of particular significance during NAIDOC Week, we will be a blessing and opening the new indigenous garden in the Senior School. Please take the time to look at the photos in the following pages that reveal remarkable transformations and great new facilities. You can also find out about the current major new MultiPurpose Building incorporating Music, STEM, Food Technology, Theatre, and performance spaces. Finally, we are all certainly looking forward with great anticipation and excitement to welcoming Mr Matthew Brennan as the new College Principal of St Gregory’s College from the start of August. Matthew is a deeply committed Marist, having spent almost three decades working and leading in four Marist schools. In each of these schools, Matthew has held positions of responsibility and leadership: as House Dean at Marist College Canberra, Director of Boarding and Assistant Principal at St Gregory’s College, Acting Principal at Parramatta Marist, and most recently Principal at Saint Augustine’s College, Cairns. The officially commissioning of Matthew as the new College Principal will take place at the upcoming Mass to celebrate the Feast of Pope St Gregory the Great on Friday 2 September. I thank all members of the St Gregory’s College community for your ongoing support, valuable contributions, and enduring efforts in continuing to strengthen this great community. In a distinct way, I wish to highlight the fantastic commitment of the College staff in navigating through what has been different but nonetheless challenging circumstances again in 2022. As members of our Marist family at St Gregory’s, we pray that St Marcellin continues to guide and walk with us each day, and Mary our Good Mother provides care and comfort as we follow her example of gentle heart. Quae Seminaveris Metes
