Dear Parents and Carers,
It is hard to believe but this is the last formal newsletter of the year. I will of course send correspondence as and when we need it during the holidays. I will continue to monitor my email over the holidays if you have any urgent issue you need to notify the College about or need information. frya@stvincents.nsw.edu.au
Thank you for your attendance and support at Speech Night on Wednesday evening. The evening provided great acknowledgement of the accomplishment of our students throughout 2024. The message of our guest speaker, Ms Emily Mulligan (Class of 2005) had much that was of value and interest to our students. I provide this extract for your reflection.
In recent years I have done much less fake oil spills and much more work in parliament and with heaps of politicians. I have met people who I wouldn't even vote for. But I have managed to find common ground. Where there is common ground, there's a basis to work together.
That's easier said than done but there is a deceptively simple technique. Being curious. Curiosity leads to an ability to see complexity where there was a black and white, just a goodie and a baddie.
Recent research on polarisation shows that people exaggerate their perceptions of the other side way beyond reality. They think those that they disagree with are more extreme than they really are. These notions lead to really dark paths of hatred and violence.
And curiosity is a very easy antidote . It lets you humanise and empathise with more people than you could ever meet.
There's still right and wrong. Norms that need to be maintained, laws and international law that should be respected and we should be furious when they're broken, when hospitals are targeted, women keep dying at the hands of men at alarming and worsening rates and abuses of power occur.
But, I have learned more from people I ardently disagree with - it's interesting, it sharpens your arguments and it makes you smarter. It definitely makes you more persuasive.
I would like to congratulate all the students who were awarded prizes and all those who throughout the year have given their best. That feeling of having done your best is highly satisfying and more valued than a certificate or trophy.
A large team of people are involved in Speech Night and I thank each of them for their meticulous planning and the production of a very entertaining evening.
Our first Tanzanian Immersion since 2019 leaves on Wednesday. We wish them a truly deep and rich immersion during which they will learn so much about themselves and the world!
Tonight we will celebrate with the Year 10 students at their Formal. It will be a night of memories made with friends that will be treasured for life. I look forward to seeing them transform into sophisticated young women.