When I meet with families considering our College for their son’s education, I always begin by explaining what it means to be Carmelite. I often start by recounting the story of the first Carmelites— a group of men who chose to live as hermits in the tradition of Elijah on Mount Carmel, in the deserts of Israel. I then highlight the unique journey that led the Carmelites, an order not originally focused on education, to establish a Catholic boys’ school here in Donvale in 1961. Historically, the Carmelites were known more for their contemplative, monastic life than their involvement in education. However, my recent travels to Ireland and the UK, following in the footsteps of the Carmelites, revealed a richer and more expansive narrative.
Over the past couple of weeks of have been privileged to attend two uplifting and engaging assemblies led by our Middle and Senior student leaders. With Whitefriars Day coming up, the boys and staff supporting them felt it would be appropriate that the theme for these assemblies should focus on the concept of what it is to be a ‘Friar.
Those who gathered, heard some wonderful reflections from our boys on what this concept means to them, speaking from the heart about their experiences of this place and particularly those who had supported them during their time here. I was blessed to be asked to provide my own thoughts on the idea which I have presented below. I would like to thank those staff and student leaders who supported this very worthwhile event, and I look forward to celebrating our special Whitefriars Day on Friday 13 September.
Life in schools moves at a rapid pace. There are so many moving parts. So many programs, activities, learning experiences… The danger in this space is that we can end up rushing through school life so quickly that we forget to stop, reflect and celebrate all the wonderful opportunities experiences and achievement of this vibrant and engaging community called Whitefriars. Considering we are roughly half way through this term, I thought it timely to present a little retrospective.
“Citius, Altius, Fortius” is the motto of the modern Olympic Games. These three Latin words mean “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” Baron de Coubertin the founder of the Modern Olympics borrowed the motto from a Priest named Henri Martin Dideono, the headmaster of a school in Paris. This motto speaks of more than physical prowess or achievement. It speaks to me of resilience, determination, commitment, adaptability and evolution.
How often in life do we crave a little time and space? Time to stop, to remove ourselves from the busyness of life and the space, to lift our eyes and see beyond the day to day? To consider, to reflect and to evaluate where we are now, where we are heading and what we believe? I feel very blessed and humbled to say that the very valuable and rare gift of time and space was granted to me by the Whitefriars College Board and generously supported by the College Leadership Team, in the form of enrichment leave which I participated in during the last few weeks of Term 2.
As Term 2 comes to a close, it is worth reflecting on the many and varied achievements of these past few months – with a view to an aspirational focus on the remainder of the year.
On Wednesday 15 May, Whitefriars College joined with 12 other ACC schools to showcase Art and Technology 2024. This exhibition was held at Federation Square in the Atrium and The Edge and was open to the public for a week. It featured over 250 works by students across all year levels, showcasing the talent and creativity of our students across the various schools. Congratulations to our chosen students that had their work displayed at this amazing and highly acclaimed venue. It is a real honour to recognise the students listed below. Another highlight to this evening was the speech made by Phil Deane our Visual Arts Captain, who spoke of his journey and encouragement to anyone who has a passion for the Arts and to take advantage of the opportunities that Whitefriars Offers.
As you may remember the three tenets of the Carmelite ethos are Contemplation, Community and Service. These are not just some fluffy words we place on our letterhead and in PowerPoint presentations, they are words steeped in over eight hundred years of tradition. The words were first initiated on a small mountain in Israel called Mt. Carmel by a group of hermits who devoted their lives to Jesus and the community they served. These were people understood what it truly meant to live in community. A community founded on unconditional love, trust, faith, justice, respect, empathy, compassion and mercy. Eight hundred years later, I have the joy every day of seeing these values lived out by students, parents and staff at Whitefriars whose words and actions enhance and grow the Carmelite culture of Contemplation, Community and Service.
This week our College came together to reflect and pray on the meaning of Easter in our lives at our annual Easter Liturgical Celebration. The recurring theme which emerged from this celebration was one of hope. There is no doubt that our world is currently consumed with feelings of hopelessness. We crave good news stories that inspire hope in our lives. The Good news of our Easter story is that God Loved the world so much that he sent his son Jesus to be hope for the world. Jesus’ love for us was so great that he gave his life for us and was raised from the dead to give us hope and new life and to inspire us to be hope for others.
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.
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!