Newsletter Archive
MORE
In Fide – 1 March 2024
1st March 2024

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.

...
MORE
In Fide – 20 February 2024
20th February 2024

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!

...
MORE
In Fide – 17 November 2023
17th November 2023

On a number of Friday evenings in October, I had the pleasure and privilege of welcoming several groups of past Whitefriars students to our College as part of our reunion events for 2023. As we wandered around our beautiful grounds with these past students, from as long ago as 1973, these men spoke with affection about their time at the College, particularly with regards to their teachers and the care and support they had received in their time here.

...
MORE
In Fide – 27 October 2023
26th October 2023

One of my favourite reflections or prayers is one titled A creed to live by. The last line of this reflection says…
Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you’re going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way.

...
MORE
In Fide – 17 October 2023
17th October 2023

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently and we were discussing the ups and downs of life. My friend suggested to me that he longed for a comfortable life. He wished for a life free from worry, difficulty and concern. I suppose in one way or another, we may all wish for a life of comfort from time to time. In doing so however, we may not be doing ourselves a service. If we wish to be fully alive and continue to grow as people, we need to live with discomfort because this is often where real learning and growth takes place.

...
MORE
In Fide – 18 September 2023
18th September 2023

As a Principal, I do tend to spend a fair bit of my time responding to other people’s questions, concerns, ideas and initiatives. In these situations, as the person is speaking to me, I often find myself thinking about how I am going to solve their issue, what statement I am going to make which will ‘fix’ the problem/issue/dilemma they are presenting, what words of wisdom I could provide to support the other person. In other words, I focus more on making statements than asking questions. In doing so, I acknowledge, perhaps I am not listening as intently as I should be.

...
MORE
In Fide – 1 September 2023
1st September 2023

In William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, there is a quote which says, “Some are born greatness, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them”. In the context of the play, the statement is part of a joke being played on one of the characters. In the modern day context we use it to speak about how people achieve positions of leadership. We use this phrase to mean that some people are born into power; others work for it; still, others are forced to accept it.

I was reminded of this phrase when listening to Sunday’s Gospel reading. The reading was from Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 16 verses 13 to 20, where Jesus asks his disciples: “Who do they say the Son of Man is?” Many of the disciples provide their thoughts on the question but it is the Apostle Peter who shows the greatest insight into the identity of Jesus when he says “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. If we were to view this passage in isolation, we would be excused for thinking Peter had all the answers, a natural born leader. But we know that Peter was of flawed character, a man who got it wrong far more often than he got it right.

...
MORE
In Fide – 18 August 2023
18th August 2023

Do you ever get that feeling that the passage of time has crept up on you? That you are so caught up in the busyness of life that you don’t realise that time has slipped by without you even noticing? I had this feeling last week when I realised that we are more than halfway through Term 3!

...
MORE
In Fide – 4 August
4th August 2023

Recently, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with several young primary school students and their parents at one of the many College tours we run during the school day here at Whitefriars. One young man was telling me how excited he was to come to secondary school because of the many new and exciting opportunities our College provides both in and outside the classroom. I asked this young boy what activities he had heard of that he was most excited about participating in on his arrival at secondary school. Without hesitation the boy responded – “debating.” I commented to this quiet young man that this was an excellent choice, firstly, because he would develop especially important lifelong skills such as clear thinking, problem solving, collaboration, cooperation and teamwork. Secondly, and equally importantly I guaranteed my young friend that through involvement in debating he would also find some lifelong mates!

...
MORE
In Fide – 21 July 2023
21st July 2023

Boys and self-expression. Some people would suggest that these two terms are mutually exclusive ideas. Many think that young men lack the ability to express their thoughts and feeling in comparison to girls, who are more naturally inclined toward this action. I disagree with this assumption. Boys are equally adept at, and desiring of opportunities to express who they are, what they are thinking and how they are feeling. They just require particular conditions and the environment in which to do so.

...
MORE
In Fide – 9 June 2023
8th June 2023

When people ask me “what is Whitefriars College?”, my response is that we are a Catholic school for boys’ in the Carmelite tradition. Emphasising the word “Catholic” is deliberate because our foundation stems from the Carmelites, led by Fr Frank Shortis, who envisioned and established a faith-based educational institution for boys in Donvale back in 1961. Their motivation was to develop an educational institution founded in faith and grounded in the message of the Gospel.

...
MORE
In Fide – 22 May 2023
22nd May 2023

The word gratitude is one I am hearing a lot lately. Many theorists suggest that to be truly happy and complete we should all adopt an attitude of gratitude in our daily lives. There are many theories on how we can assume this attitude in the everyday. One such theory suggests that we wake up each morning and think of 10 things we are grateful for in our lives. This is not a particularly new concept. In fact, I think my grandma used to say it another way – “Count your blessings Mark!” the origins of which are found in the Psalm 103 –

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:” – Psalm 103:1-2.

...