“Courage comes before confidence.” – Belinda Yorston, YLead Team Leader

The Year 12 Leaders have set the Senior School students a challenge to be ‘fearless’ in their approach to the 2018 School year. Acknowledging the power of a common goal, the Year 12 cohort has chosen an inspirational theme. This year’s word ‘Fearless’ follows the 2015 motto, ‘Absolutely’, the 2016 theme ‘Golden’ and the 2017 word ‘Beyond’. These mottos serve to bind the School community together and catalyse a clearly articulated vision and purpose.

This year’s theme ‘Fearless’ typifies the courage and confidence with which we wish our girls to approach their future. As noted by Belinda Yorston, the YLead convenor of the 2018 Student Leaders’ Conference at Bond University, ‘Courage comes before confidence’. She explained that it takes courage to build resilience and confidence as it means getting outside of your comfort zone, having a go and being prepared to fail.

Acting as ambassadors for their cohort, members of the Year 12 Student Executive, Juliet Grant and School Co-Captain Annabelle Motteram, attended the Alliance of Girls’ Schools 2018 Student Leadership Conference at Bond University. As has been the case in past years, our students found the Conference to be very inspiring and motivational. The Conference promotes the development of young female leaders and it provides opportunities for girls to explore leadership styles and to hear the stories of inspirational leaders in the community. Annabelle and Juliet have shared their reflections of the three day conference here.

School Co-Captains Stephanie Ferrali and Annabelle Motteram introduced the ‘Fearless’ theme in the first Senior School assembly. Annabelle shared a metaphor from Glen Gerryn, of the Hopefull Institute. Glen presented to the Year 12 girls at the Ormond College Residential Leadership Conference and likened fearlessness to an aeroplane taking off, saying that the success of the flight is not to do with changing or ignoring the laws of gravity but rather about defying gravity to achieve flight. Annabelle noted, ‘Overcoming fear is the same, if we allow it to burden our lives we will always be restrained and held back from our potential’.

Stephanie reminded the girls to see every day as a chance for a new beginning. She reflected, ‘We have been blessed with a beautiful planet. The sun sets every day and rises again every morning giving us a chance, every day, for a new beginning. Rather than worrying about who and what we want to become, let us take the opportunity, each day, to be the person we want to be, right here and right now’.

The Assembly audience were not only inspired by the 2018 St Catherine’s word ‘Fearless’, but by the visual image of the capacity our girls have to be fearless. Students visiting New York’s famous Wall Street were able to photograph the Fearless Girl statue, adorned with the iconic St Catherine’s blue ribbon, facing off the Charging Bull – an image that will no doubt linger in every girl’s mind as they face the year with fearlessness and fortitude and a willingness to falter and fail to ultimately reach success in the face of challenge.