This year has redefined so much in the world, but one significant positive to emerge for the Class of 2020 is that they have experienced and can now appreciate the strength, adaptability and determination that exists within them.

Last week they were able to enjoy a few final rites of passage, with some COVID-19-safe modifications, to mark and celebrate the end of their secondary schooling.

The aptly themed ‘Halloween’ Celebration Day on Tuesday saw the school ghoulishly decorated. The joyous laughter, music and excitement of the cohort – resplendent in their costumes and face masks – was fantastic to witness.

Wednesday marked their final day of VCE classes, a bittersweet set of moments that always leaves students with mixed feelings. Gratitude and appreciation were heaped on the VCE teaching staff, who have been remarkable this year, and will continue to work alongside their charges until every written exam is done and dusted.

Thursday’s traditional Leavers’ Service was moved from St John’s Church to the School Field, and the Reverend Dr Peter French blessed the group with well wishes, prayer and even organised some sunshine for the day. The cohort then spent some time with their Heads of House, who have been empathetic and stoic in their support of the Year 12s this year. They provided the girls with a gift bag, containing a booklet of letters from previous School Captains, filled with words of encouragement, along with letters that they had written to themselves all the way back in Year 7. Suffice to say, there were squeals of laughter and a few silent tears shed as they absorbed these words.

I addressed the group with what would have been my Head of Year Valedictory speech (which can be read below), which was followed by the Final Assembly – a cathartic event where the pent-up emotion from the year was slowly released, as the group listened intently to the honest and emotive speeches from their Principal and School Co-Captains. Each member of the Class of 2020 was presented with their well-deserved ‘badge of honour’ as their names and Year 12 Awards were read out, as their peers watched online from their classrooms.

The group then changed into their modified school uniforms – designed in the appropriate theme of ‘Euphoria’ – and returned to the field for lunch, music and dancing. The time-honoured tradition of the Guard of Honour was the final event for the day, with the entire Senior School lining the pathway from the Clocktower to the Gates to show their support and send this group off in style. With an almighty roar, the Year 12 group flew across the pavers in a blur of colour and sparkles, and when they reached Heyington Place, tears of relief, exultation and love flowed without restraint.

The Class of 2020 have now embarked on SWOTVAC, to prepare for their final exams. These are usually seen as the biggest challenge of Year 12, but the Class of 2020 know that they are capable of climbing any mountain from here on in. We look on with admiration and pride in their achievements – both as individuals and a collective this year – and wish them all the very best of luck for the exam period and beyond.

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Head of Year 12 Valedictory speech – A letter to my 2020 Heroes

‘Are we there yet?’ The youthful catch cry of many a long journey. ‘Are we there yet?’ Could be a sign of great anticipation of the destination. ‘Are we there yet?’ Could also show impatience with the journey. Sometimes, it is both.

‘Are we there yet?’ is a question that has taken on a somewhat different significance in 2020, as the start and end points have become more uncertain than ever before. It has meant you have needed to forego and sacrifice so much this year for the greater good. You are my 2020 Heroes. You deserve so much more than 2020 has given you, but I know that you will be so much more because of it. You are the Class of 2020, and you should wear that title with pride, because no other cohort has faced the hardships you have been presented with this year. It is in the darkest of times that we need our brightest of leaders, and I congratulate you on leading us through what will always be remembered as one of the most challenging years in recent history. To our titled captains, you have had to reshape how your role has been needed, and you have provided the positivity and connection we needed. Our boarders, who have had to move into, then out of, then back into Illawarra – you have managed these disruptions superbly.

You have all shown determination, perseverance, grit and strength – these will serve you well – but even more impressively, you have been flexible, adaptable and accepted of the need for change, which are virtues that could be even more valuable in years to come. You have ridden the waves of the year together, holding onto each other and pushing each other forward, learning to navigate the tough times and enjoy the good, which is something you should be immensely proud of – I certainly am.

This year I have urged you to focus on the things within your control – your actions, your thoughts and your words. These three things are powerful beyond measure, so as you move into the next chapter of your lives, please approach them with consideration, with love and with kindness.

As the class of 2020, looking back at your journey through your time here at St Catherine’s, today, on your final day of school, the answer to ‘Are we there yet?’ should be a resounding ‘yes – we’ve arrived!’ You have completed your last SACs, attended your last VCE lessons – both on Teams and in person, made your last cup of Milo in the Common Room (albeit back in Term 1), taken part in your last House events, played your last GSV sporting competitions, sat your last NAPLAN and GAT tests, performed in your last school productions and concerts, spoken in your last DAV debate, gone on your last school camp, danced together in your last spares, tied your last blue ribbon in your hair.

However, as you reflect on all of these activities, events and milestones, there should be a couple of things that stand out – firstly, the time and effort you invested were likely made all the more special because of the people that you shared them with. Secondly, the end result would not have been possible without everything that happened in between the ‘first’ and the ‘last’.

‘Are we there yet?’ I would like you to remember that it is not the destination that is important, but the journey, the process, or, as Miley Cyrus has taught us, it’s the climb.

The very question ‘Are we there yet?’, actually serves to remove us from the present moment and causes us to focus on an expectation, an imagined place or time, a theoretical ‘finish line’. So, with my few words today, I would like to remind you to lower your eyes a little, bring your line of vision to what is around you in the here and now, look at the people surrounding you and think about how they have shaped your experiences and helped you to get to where you are today.

‘Are we there yet?’ Jonathan Larson, the playwright of one of my favourite musicals, RENT, has the best response in his song ‘No Day But Today’:

“There is no future, there is no past.

I live this moment as my last.

There’s only us. There’s only this.

Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.

No other road. No other way.

No day but today.

I can’t control my destiny.

I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be.

There’s only now, there’s only here.

Give in to love, or live in fear.

No other course, no other way.

No day but today.”

So, the real answer to “Are we there yet”?

No, we are not there. We are right here. Welcome to the wonderous moment in time that marks the end of the beginning, and the start of the rest.

On your journey, please look out the window to admire the beauty of the world. Connect with everyone you meet along the way and treat them with respect and kindness. What you do in the present moment is more important in shaping your journey than the final destination. Take with you the sense of self you have discovered this year, along with the strength, perseverance, integrity, empathy and curiosity you have developed in your time at school.

In closing, I would like to thank you all for being so remarkable this year. Thank you for making my first year, and what is subsequently my last year, as Dean of Year 12 such a memorable one. I have shared your sadness in the time we couldn’t spend together, but am so profoundly grateful in this moment that we were able to come back to School this Term, and be together today to mark this significant occasion. This is not goodbye, as I know our journey is not yet complete, and that our paths will cross again in the coming days, weeks, months and, hopefully, years. But this is good luck for what comes next.

Thank you, Class of 2020, for an extraordinary year. I couldn’t have done it without you.