It was a privilege to host The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, to officially open the new Junior School – Barbreck on Tuesday. As a St Catherine’s and Barbreck Old Girl, the Governor’s sheer enjoyment of returning to her school was certainly visible and a touching addition to a beautiful morning shared by all our Barbreck students with our community. Such events are the culmination of the work of many members of staff who enjoyed the team work and camaraderie with imagining, creating and executing such a significant event for the School.

At the Opening, our Chair of Council Ms Jane Hodder was pleased to announce the naming of the front drive to Barbreck as the ‘Anne Smith Avenue’ in honour of Miss Anne Smith who served as Head of the Junior School between 1980 and 2000. Anne was the longest-serving Head of Junior School in the School’s history. She was instrumental in shaping the educational experience of generations of St Catherine’s women and was very much, a loved figure in the Junior School, facilitating a cheerful and nurturing environment. She was known for her commitment to seeing all students thrive. She is well remembered for standing at the gates of Barbreck; greeting girls and their families each day in the morning and farewelling the afternoon. Anne was also the patron of the Her Future Begins Here campaign. We are pleased that we can honour Anne’s contribution to St Catherine’s School through the naming of the Avenue.

Please enjoy reading my address below given at the Opening.

Good morning,

Your Excellency, The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria and Mr Anthony Howard AM QC, Distinguished Guests, Parents, Friends of St Catherine’s and, importantly, our Barbreck Girls.

Thank you for attending this special occasion for St Catherine’s School. In a few short moments, I shall invite Her Excellency to unveil the plaque that will be positioned near the entrance of Barbreck on this day, Tuesday 26 February 2019.

The unveiling of this plaque is a symbol.

A symbol representing a significant moment in time of the history of St Catherine’s School.

This Barbreck plaque is shiny and new, carefully selected words, triple checked for accuracy, etched forever into the brass.

But it is much more than just an inscribed bronze plate; this new plaque captures the dreams, the hopes and the stories of every Barbreck girl, and for generations of Barbreck girls to come.

Recently, on a warm summer afternoon, girls had travelled home for the school day, a few still studying in the window of the Upper Library in the Senior School. The School had quietened, it was at this moment that I heard two friends laughing together as they returned from tennis to collect forgotten homework, still in their locker. It was at this moment that I also noticed a teacher strolling to her car with a large woven basket of marking. I walked across to the Clock Tower.

The Clock Tower is home to our Barbreck graduates when they transition into Year 7.

Fixed onto the front of the actual Clock Tower is another historic marker that may go unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of Year 7 life. The Clock Tower houses one of our oldest bronze plaques. It has etched on its plate 25/11/1934.

The 25^thNovember 1934.

The bronze plaque in memory of Ruth Langley fixed onto the front of the Clock Tower.

It is not shiny and new. The brass has darkened, almost stained black in parts with age. I found myself running my fingers across the etched words on the plaque – almost as if I was touching history. The Clock Tower plaque was gifted to the School by the St Catherine’s Old Girls’ Association in memory of Ruth Langley, a much-loved principal of St Catherine’s School.

As I touched the plaque, it was a deep reminder of its purpose – a heritage marker of a time, a moment in time – conscious of the past but looking into the future with hope. Indeed, these plaques are designed to provide a thread of our history. They are a tangible reminder that this place that we now occupy, St Catherine’s School, has been held with care and faith by others, many who have wondered about the future, just as we do.

What were the hopes, dreams and stories of the St Catherine’s girls on that day, 25 November 1934?

A plaque tells the details about a building – when it was built, when it was opened, and by whom. However, a plaque also has a deeper story to tell of our past, our present and for our future.

T.S. Eliot’s brilliance as a poet is none more visible than in his opening lines of Four Quartets:

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future,

And time future contained in time past.

Eliot’s words are a poignant reminder that our past, our present and our future are intricately entwined in one another. And that the past, present and future do not lie dormant within the pages of a book or the words on a plaque but are dynamic, connected and ever present influences on our life.

Today, this intricately entwined link of the past, present and future is none more so evident than for a school that is 122 years old, and celebrates a golden past, our golden past. It is a school that celebrates the achievements of all our girls, past, present and future.

It is also not lost on me that Eliot’s poem draws on the images of classic novel, The Secret Garden.

 Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,

Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.

This image of a secret garden, much like our Village Green now hidden from Heyington Place, is my favourite outlook from the top of the stairs of the forecourt where girls laugh, play, imagine, discover and run. 

Eliot’s poetry reminds us that beyond words, at the core of our being, resides the laughter of children. It is a memory that fills our heart with joy and wonder. We witness this every day in our privileged role as educators and parents.

The Junior School Captains, Audrey Doan and Chloe Favaloro, address guests at the Official Opening of the Junior School – Barbreck.

As a Barbreck Girl today, this is a commemoration, a moment in time of your educational journey that you will long remember, bringing gorgeous and endearing nostalgia for you in the years to come.

My hope is that we continue to give you, as we have given thousands of girls, the opportunity to venture down previously unimagined paths. Carrying a light, providing a safe and nurturing environment for girls to achieve their full potential.

And whilst your roots as St Catherine’s girls can be dated back to the 19th century, today we can see that your flowering branches reach into the 21st century and beyond. In your new Junior School, the ideas and practices you apply every day are blossoming before your eyes.

It is the different areas of this new Barbreck building that I love for you, flowing into each other, some noisy, some quiet, some for solitude, some for togetherness – this will physically ‘transform’ your learning. 

This building also encourages you to be connected – with each other, your teachers, your families, yourselves and with the world around you. 

These things are the ‘heart and soul’ of St Catherine’s, in our past, our present and our future.  

I encourage you as our young Barbreck Girls to run your fingers over the etched words of this plaque, to browse through the photo exhibition of Barbreck Girls dating back to the very first year of Barbreck, when kindergarten and Years 1 and 2 commenced at St Catherine’s in 1949.

I encourage you to make your own stories as much a part of this building as the glass, the bricks and the books in the Library. And let the girls in the future, feel these memories too.

Let them hear the joy of your laughter.

It is now my pleasure to invite Her Excellency, together with our Chair of Council, Ms Jane Hodder, to unveil the plaque for the new Barbreck building.