PILGIMAGE – A TEN YEAR JOURNEY

On Friday we celebrated Annual Celebration Evening.  

Excerpt from Principal’s Address:

It has been an immense privilege to lead this College during the ten years of its journey and to see it grow from a concept to a Pre-kindergarten – Year Twelve College with over 1100 students.

As a Catholic College our Vision is firmly focused on God. We aspire to be a community where all our students live life to the full.  In developing our faith story we have had wonderful companions on the journey who have brought their wisdom and charism to our story – Abbot John and the Benedictine community of New Norcia, Sister Joan, Sister Marie and the Sisters of Mercy, Sr Kathleen and the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the McCormack Family, the St Vincent de Paul Society,  Father Francis, Father Bona and the assistant priests.

On pilgrimage we journey with others and the journey of Holy Cross has been very much one in community.  I appreciate the trust of those foundation parents who walked through the sand on our first Orientation Day in November 2009 to view a school which was not yet finished and where their sons and daughters would commence Years Seven and Eight the following February.  College Board members have contributed greatly not just to the planning of wonderful facilities, but also to strategic planning and the building of a strong sense of community. 

Thanks to Ms Flavia Lenzo, Foundation Board Chair,  Mr Marco Pasalich and current Board Chair, Mr Adam Bolton for their leadership of the Board during the past ten years and to all Board members who have contributed to the building of Holy Cross College.  

Our parents have contributed so much to  this College.  I particularly thank the Friends of Holy Cross, and this year’s President Mrs Louise Breadsall, who have fostered a great sense of connectedness, celebrating and sharing the gifts of this wonderfully diverse community.

Holy Cross College has been built both for and by the students. Their voice has been so important in shaping this College.  One of the great joys of my time at Holy Cross has been getting to know the young people for whom this College was built.  It has been such a privilege to witness, first our foundation students, and then all the students the from Pre-kindergarten to Year Twelve who have followed, make their own journey through their school years.   I thank College Captains, Grace Beazley and John Paul Botha for their leadership of the students in 2019.

As I prepare to leave Holy Cross I have a deep sense of gratitude for the incredible group of people with whom I have been privileged to work.  I have often said that ‘leading a new school is like building a plane while you are flying it’, but it has been the quality of the crew that has made all the difference. 

The staff of Holy Cross College forged paths where there were none, they went to new frontiers deep into new territories, to take this school on a journey where others were only just beginning their exploration.  They did this because they believed that if we were to be true to our mission of our students being visionary young people who embrace their changing world with confidence and optimism they needed to be prepared to be curious, to challenge,  to be innovative and to be brave.

The staff of Holy Cross College during these first ten years have  had so much passion and commitment in bringing our Vision to life.   I saw a quote recently that said, ‘Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible,’ from Ronnie Oldham.  It struck me that this is what the staff of Holy Cross College have done to make this the excellent learning community that it is today.  They have been prepared to believe that schools can and should look different as they have nurtured our faith story,  contributed their gifts to the community and built a strong culture of innovative rigour.  

I thank all the  staff of Holy Cross who have accompanied me on this journey.  One of my most precious memories is of the staff retreat this year when we walked together into New Norcia.  It was a very special time.

Harold V Metcher says, ‘Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain.  An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.’   During  these first ten years at Holy Cross we have kept glancing towards the summit, kept our vision in mind, but we have enjoyed an incredible journey together with many beautiful scenes along the way. 

Ms Mandy Connor

Principal