One of the things I enjoy most about St Catherine’s is the strength of our community. It is embedded throughout our School.

Even simple things such as taking a walk through the School grounds reveal the strong relationships which are a defining feature of St Catherine’s. I find that students are always happy to have a chat. Often, the conversation is not about anything of great substance. We chat about the weekend, how did your football team go, what you will be doing in the holidays and other serious matters! However, I always ask how their day is going. How is the study going and so forth. The conversations can be quite revealing, and they can very quickly give me a sense of how students are travelling and the whole student cohort for that matter. A simple conversation helps make a connection, embeds relationships, and strengthens a sense of community. 

Recently, we had an outstanding example of how wonderful and strong the St Catherine’s community is. The Jamie & Rebecca Gray Theatre (previously known as the Black Box Theatre) was officially opened on Thursday 19 May by the Hon. Julie Bishop. 

Ms Kathy Hines, St Catherine’s Advancement Manager, recently wrote of Jamie and Rebecca Gray in her Blue Ribbon article: 

“This naming honour recognises the Gray family’s long association with St Catherine’s School and their philanthropic contributions over many years. Both Jamie and Rebecca have deep connections to our School community. They are parents to Sophie who graduated from St Catherine’s in 2012, Annabelle in 2015 and Hugo, their son, who attended St Catherine’s Early Learning Centre.  

Jamie Gray is a long serving Member of School Council having joined in 2002. Additionally, he is Chair of the Building & Property Committee and a Member of the Hardship Fund Sub-Committee. He and Rebecca are great supporters of student scholarships, in addition to Jamie’s generosity for all capital campaigns. They have been strong supporters of the School for many years, with family connections dating back to 1949 with Jamie’s mother, aunt and sister also having attended St Catherine’s School.”  

The evening of the opening epitomised everything that is good about our community. The guests gathered represented many generations of connections to our School and we were treated to outstanding performances by our talented students, supported by our wonderful staff. In an earlier Blue Ribbon article, I commented on the Musical, Urinetown and other performances in this wonderful new space. With the development of The Jamie & Rebecca Gray Theatre we now have a place where our community can join together, connect, and celebrate the joy of people working and being together. 

Another community event held just last week, was the Sports Auxiliary’s Father and Daughter Dinner, held in the Long Room at the MCG with Dr Richard ‘Harry’ Harris, SC, OAM.  

Dr Harris is an Australian anaesthetist and cave diver who played a crucial role in the Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand a few years ago. One of our St Catherine’s parents, Mr Andrew Demetriou, was emcee of the evening and did a wonderful job of coordinating the night as well as introducing Dr Harris.

The evening was a time for dads to enjoy time with their daughters and hear an extraordinary Australian share his experiences of an equally extraordinary event, which captured the attention of the world. The evening was just delightful. Talking to the dads and their daughters during the evening it was so obvious how enjoyable it was to gather as a community. 

Connecting with people is vital. For our School it is important that our staff continue to have conversations with our students and parents. This week, I sat down over breakfast with a small group of Barbreck parents to hear what they think about St Catherine’s. Primarily I was interested in their perspective on the education we are providing for their daughters. For a little over an hour, I asked questions and listened intently to what they had to say. Apart from the obvious conversations about teaching and learning such as reading, writing and math, the discussion kept coming back to the fact that St Catherine’s is a school which nurtures and supports the girls. The word ‘community’ was mentioned time and again. 

For communities to thrive, relationships are key. In fact, just as I am writing this paragraph, one of our Year 11 students Mietta Passon, who is selling ‘Big Freeze’ beanies and organising a dunking machine next term to raise money in the fight against Motor Neurone Disease (MND), has walked into the Principal’s Office hoping I would purchase a beanie. Of course, I did buy one, but she then stayed, and we had a chat. What did we talk about? The football, what is happening in the holidays and of course…how she was feeling about the upcoming exams, especially English. In the space of a couple of minutes I was able to connect with her and understand how she is travelling and share in her commitment to our community by selling beanies for a cause greater than herself. To learn more about Mietta’s fundraising efforts click here.

St Catherine’s is a great community, and it is students like Mietta who make me feel connected and proud to be a part of this school.