Monday of this week marked the final School day for our Year 12 cohort. On this day, the girls attended the annual Leavers’ Service at St John’s Anglican Church and their last ever Senior School Assembly. On Wednesday 30 October, the Year 12 girls will commence their VCE Examinations. As a School, we wish them the best of luck as they embark on their final examinations.

Provided below is the speech that I delivered to the girls at their final Assembly:

Today, we shall listen to the final reflections of our 2019 Co-Captains, Kavina Kalaichelvam and Georgina Cottrill, before they depart through the Heyington Gates in a few hours’ time, together with their friends.

It was in Term 1 that Georgina and Kavina, together with the Year 12 cohort, shaped their theme for 2019. As leaders, they wanted to be inclusive, all-encompassing, united in spirit – coming together as quite simply ‘One’.

St Catherine’s School 2019 Co-Captain, Georgina Cottrill, delivers her final speech at the Senior School Assembly.

I feel privileged to know them so well. They leave a fine legacy for the School. Please join me in thanking our Captains, Kavina and Georgina, for their very fine leadership.

For Grace Lloyd, Samantha Osborn, Lauren Lew and Hope Kudelka – who started together in the Early Learning Centre at St Catherine’s, and were joined the following year in Prep by Henrietta Paterson, Madison Hunt, Sophie Turnbull and Phoebe Keilar – 13 years of Assemblies together, and today, their last at St Catherine’s.

As you leave School today, girls, the one thing that I wish for you is that ‘our’ best collective work as teachers, and as a school, is continued through you.

We have cajoled, enthused, guided, conferenced, mopped up tears, laughed with, persuaded, pleaded with, enticed and enjoyed your company, and today we celebrate.

It is the job of teachers at St Catherine’s to help girls find their own voices.

St Catherine’s School 2019 Co-Captain, Kavina Kalaichelvam, delivers her final speech at the Senior School Assembly.

It is our job to explore ideas, discover new worlds, write poetry, tell stories, instil healthy behaviours, sing songs and paint pictures with our students.

Even within the confines of our packed curriculum, the true job of the teacher at St Catherine’s is to take girls on a journey to discover their talent and potential.

I very much appreciate the lengths each staff member at St Catherine’s has undertaken to help our Year 12 girls discover and unlock their individual possibilities.

As you leave school today, the ripple effect of our ‘collective work’ is continued through you.

Whatever you have learned at St Catherine’s is yours to use freely, whether it is knowledge and skills, attitudes or values.

These are the gifts of your parents and teachers, and we are pleased to give them to you.

However, you are not educated to become bystanders. The world needs need an emerging generation of young women to make things happen and I believe we have guided you to shoulder that responsibility.

Make no mistake, responsibility comes with challenge, it is often a burden; but it is also the greatest privilege to have the skills and knowledge to shape events in your own lives and the lives of others around you.

Whatever course you decide upon, you will need courage.

There is always someone that will share their criticism, tell you that you are wrong. And with this, there are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right.

To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires endeavour, perseverance and integrity.

I ask you to draw on the courage of three women who I hope, have inspired you this year:

• The wisdom and tenacity of The Honourable Julie Bishop, who sharply navigated her way through the role of Foreign Minister, and a 20-year career in politics.
• The sheer will and determination of Dr Jane Goodall with her research of chimpanzee behaviour – a career spanning 60 years.
• The inspiration and strength of St Catherine’s Old Girl, Dr Edwina Thompson (’96) – her courage to work within the confines of corruption and poverty in the Middle East.
• These women, in addition to the St Catherine’s Old Girls’ Association women, some who adorn the walls of Sherren House, who await your next step, ready and willing to guide you.

I look around our School and see our girls – hard working, caring, determined, fine young women who are perfectly capable of being courageous, and perfectly capable to pursue their dreams, each in her own way.

So, we wish you good luck in your endeavours. We hope you will enjoy safe travels and interesting journeys, and we hope you will come back in the years ahead to share your stories with those who share your heritage.

I thank you for your stewardship and encourage you to have faith, faith in your St Catherine’s education and I hope you seize every opportunity which comes your way.

In the words of Patrick Overton, from his book of poems, The Leaning Tree:

“When you come to the edge of all the light you know,

And are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:

There will be something solid to stand on,

Or you have been taught how to fly.” 

Please click on the links below to listen to Georgina Cottrill and Kavina Kalaichelvam’s final Assembly speeches.

Final Speech – Georgina Cottrill

Final Speech – Kavina Kalaichelvam

Year 12 Leavers’ Service

On Monday, we acknowledged the graduating Class of 2019 and their contribution to life at St Catherine’s at the annual Leavers’ Service at St John’s Anglican Church.

Provided below is an extract from the speech delivered at the Service by Ms Merran O’Connor, Deputy Principal: Student Wellbeing.

“Whether your journey has been from the Banksia Room to the Common Room, Barbreck to Common Room or Clocktower to Common Room, or you were welcomed to our School at some stage in between, today you leave as ‘One’, the Class of 2019.

It is now time for you to reflect on the journey that has led you to be the young women you are today. Many of you began that journey in Year 7 and participated in the Year 7 Induction Service. On that day, you were welcomed into St Catherine’s Senior School and you proudly wore a small yellow rose bud on your blazer lapel.

That rose bud signified the beginning of the Senior School journey: a journey you are now completing but now your blazer pockets are adorned with badges or braid, an impressive record of your achievements and involvement at school.

During the Induction Service, you stood and repeated your pledge to treat others fairly and to earn their trust, to participate fully in your academic and Co-Curricular activities, to aim for your personal best at all times and to uphold the good name of St Catherine’s School.

As we, your teachers and Mrs Michelle Carroll your Principal, reflect on your school life, and your commitment to this pledge and to the School Values of Integrity, Curiosity, Perseverance and Empathy, we ask that you hold these values dear and allow them to guide your future path.

The Class of 2019 received their yellow long-stemmed roses from Mrs Melissa Braddy, Head of Year 12.

Perhaps you have reflected, with some nostalgia, on the fact that today is the last day that you will tie the blue ribbon in your hair, put on your blazer or pull on the T-Bars.

Shortly, you will be presented with a long-stemmed yellow rose; to signify the way you have grown and blossomed in your time in the Senior School. The rose has a longstanding history at St Catherine’s. It is hard to imagine, but where the Mary Davis Café now stands, was once a sprawling rose garden, a central feature in the School grounds. The roses circling the fountain now are a reminder to all of us of the history we have inherited, the beauty of our school and the gift of nature.

You will have heard the expression that we should ‘stop to smell the roses’; to take time to appreciate the simple things in life. Sometimes we focus so much on what is next that we forget to focus on what is great about now – let the image of the rose be a constant reminder to look up and see what is around you, to savour and enjoy those small moments that make you smile.

Yellow roses symbolise friendship, and the rose you receive today represents the bond you have formed with girls in your year level and beyond.

The yellow rose also represents optimism, symbolising your hopes for the future you are about to embark upon. It signifies the fact that you are ready to leave St Catherine’s as confident, courageous young women, ready to take the next step, and to embrace challenge and opportunity.

St Catherine’s School acknowledged the graduating Class of 2019 and their contribution to life at St Catherine’s at the Leavers’ Service on Monday 21 October.

Roses do have thorns, but as Abraham Lincoln famously remarked, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses”. In other words – it is all about perspective. The pessimist looks at opportunities and sees difficulties. The optimist looks at difficulties and sees opportunities.

This golden rose tied with a blue ribbon also signifies the ‘one thread that binds you all’, the ‘thread of gold and blue’. When you sing the Ode this morning, consider the sentiment in these words and reflect on the final lyrics:

‘As we pursue our hopes and dreams on the path that lies before us,

Our future’s bright, we’ll reach new heights with St Catherine’s as our guide.’

Girls, pursue your hopes and dreams and take the values you have lived by at St Catherine’s into your future, and remember ‘that is just beginning’.”