As the school year comes to a close, it has been delightful to be able to share with the School community, some ‘normal’ moments of a final week of school, in a year that has been anything but ‘normal’.

Below I share with you my Speech Day Address for 2020 which I presented today, reflecting on the moments that have made this such a memorable year.

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Good morning students and staff of St Catherine’s School – and distinguished guests, SCOGA President Mrs Chrissy Ryan, and parents, welcome to the Senior School Speech Day streaming live to you for the first time in our long and illustrious history.

The impact of a global pandemic may have turned the world on its axis, confined us to our homes and physically separated us from our friends, families and colleagues but it has failed to break our Blue-Ribbon spirit; undoubtedly, our girls are ready for absolutely anything that life throws at them.

We come together today, to recognise this unique journey and the learning that unfolds over, not only this year, but the many years in a student’s life.

To our departing School Captains, Sophie and Alex, I give my heartfelt thanks and my congratulations to the Senior Cohort on completing one of the most challenging years in our history.

At this time of an unprecedented global upheaval in 2020, it is with my sincere appreciation and gratitude for the strength people provide to each other and to our members of our School. Across this year, I have witnessed firsthand a genuine sense of care, commitment and support.

On behalf of the parents, staff and students of St Catherine’s, I would also like to acknowledge and thank members of the School Council, and the Council Sub-committees – Governance, Building and Property, Finance, Community Engagement, Foundation and newly formed Hardship committee following our inaugural giving day, for their commitment and careful deliberation to ensure our School remains a leader in girls’ education.

Thank you especially to our Chair of School Council, Ms Jane Hodder, for her enthusiasm, guidance and commitment to school leadership. I have never felt more supported and reassured during a year that has tried and tested my resilience and fortitude.

In my thirty years of working in education, and presented with no other alternative, I have never seen such dedication, commitment and willingness than from the St Catherine’s staff this past year as they adapted continually for teaching and working in a new landscape.

At various times this year, many people were burdened by significant confusion, fear and change. However, I observed time and again, it was often the ‘routine’ of the School day, a familiar timetable, a teacher’s reassuring voice and the connection with subject matter that so often settled and calmed teenagers in our care. Over the past year, our teachers learned to re-create a new rhythm for each lesson, most notably in an attempt to address the fatigue of lengthy screen time requiring intense concentration – but to importantly ensure a continuity of education.

With this in mind, I personally thank all the St Catherine’s School staff and members of our Senior Leadership Team who oversee the Educational and Business aspects of running a school in the most unusual of times.

Teachers at St Catherine’s School are architects for learning. I think it is more appropriate to rephrase this term to ‘digital architects’ for 2020. Given their willingness and flexibility to learn and use new technologies like never before – all because of their passion and what I have observed is the most striking and enduring loyalty to do the very best for their students. It is this loyalty that I am most proud of this year.

The quality of the conversations, the language we use, and the messages we convey are at the heart of a St Catherine’s education.

Earlier this year, our Head of Science, Ms Vanessa Jackson-McRae was announced as the recipient of the highly prestigious Royal Australian Chemistry Institute (RACI) Victorian Teacher of The Year.

Ms Jackson McRae has made an excellent contribution to the development of VCE Chemistry programs across Victoria as a consultant, advisor, reviewer and assessor for the VCAA over many years.

I believe Ms Jackson McRae is very worthy of this state-wide award; is an outstanding, passionate, dedicated chemistry teacher who makes a wonderful and valuable contribution to chemistry education in Victoria.

In addition to this acknowledgement, it also gives me great pleasure to announce the seventh recipient of the Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award today. This award is peer nominated and recognises:

• Consistent and dedicated service to teaching
• Achieves excellent student outcomes
• A willingness to share successful teaching and learning strategies

This teacher has been a pillar of support to her students and colleagues, developing excellent and trusting relationships with students and families, continually going the extra mile to stay in contact with students and their families who were struggling this year. She has that unique capacity to be personable and strong in maintaining and supporting the values of the School community. She knows the students well and they know her. As a leader of the staff tutors she is a ‘warm demander’ – she has that unique ability to be firm but softens this with a disarming smile or joke.

She is none other than one of our most inspiring educators, Head of Year 9, Miss Jenny Molloy.

How does one reflect on a year like the one we have just lived?

A once in a lifetime event of global proportions, and still without an end for many living abroad; although a recognisable reprieve in Melbourne recently. It would be easy to default to the obvious, the enforced lockdowns, weeks upon weeks of learning from home, the monotonous daily rituals of the Dan Andrews press conferences quoting daily statistics. It would be easy to default to the social and economic ramifications of these measures and the impact on families and wellbeing.

But without ignoring these impacts, we as educators are about lessons.

What are the lessons learned, and more importantly, the positives from the year most people I speak with would prefer to erase? Yet we cannot erase history. Over time the events of 2020 will fade, and invariably life will return to some kind of normal. Like the Spanish flu, the great depression and the world wars of last century, 2020 will live only in our memories, anniversaries, history books or these days more so in blogs, posts and memes.

So how does one reflect on this year? Earlier this term, having returned from my 1-hour of ‘allocated time’ for exercise per day (how quickly we forget the restrictions), I found myself scrolling through the barrage of social media posts and news bleeping for attention on my phone, when a simple and nondescript headline drew my attention.

Rent.

Truth be told it caught my attention because of a recent conversation I had with my Real Estate Agent in QLD. I have had a creeping suspicion for a while now that my Google Box is listening to my conversations. Suddenly up pops an Ad on my phone about something I was talking about. Has this happened to you? I am not convinced it is all a coincidence.

Fortunately, this time the headline was not about renting or my real estate agent. But rather ‘Rent the Musical’ and more specifically the title track ‘Seasons of Love’. And whilst I listened the next thing I knew I was tapping away and humming the chorus out loud (to the detriment of my neighbours, I am not known for my singing!)

“Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure, measure a year?”

And then it goes on –

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

It is such a beautiful song, a great musical to see for when you are next in New York, uplifting lyrics, heartening and joyous.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year.

That is a significant amount of time to reflect upon and many of you will feel you spent most of those minutes in lockdown learning and contributing to society from behind your computer screens.

Here at St Catherine’s:

• 8 556 Teams meetings and 53 402 channel messages
• 11 830 pieces of work submitted
• You logged ono the portal over 100 000 times, your parents almost 70 000 times
• 201 600 minutes of lockdown for our Year 8 and 9;

Despite the ever present COVID-19 statistics, it is challenging to document a year in numbers, stories are better.

I want you to all ‘pivot’ now and step into the minds of some very special friends and see the year 2020 through their eyes. I am referring to your beloved furry friends, the family pet. Has this been a year lost to them or one they will cherish more than any other year? Enjoying all those minutes on your lap or curled under your desk in a deep slumber warming feet and heart. All those extra walks and cuddles and attention. I can relate to our School Captain Alex, who in her final assembly speech spoke fondly of her dog Bert.

I will always remember with great fondness the year I had at St Catherine’s spending my days with Jasmine in my office. Keeping me company, wearing her blue ribbon in an empty Sherren House. Watching her play at lunchtime with a small group of Barbreck girls in our essential care program and seeing the joy on their faces as they ran and played through a deserted school, practically having it all to themselves.

Let’s pivot again and place our thoughts with Mr Mahidadiya in our ICT Team. You all know this person as Smit. Yes, Smit and Harj from IT being there for us online helping our community with all our technical needs with the patience and friendliness of angels.

For Smit, 2020 will always be remembered as the year he was able to spend with his son Om – born just before lock down.

How many opportunities in a life time will a working parent have to spend such precious time with their children?

Working from home gave all families a once in a life time opportunity to spend days and days together. I know so many parents who have commented how lovely a time it has been connecting with their children. These are such precious moments that I know will be fondly remembered in years to come: “Do you remember that year, when we were all locked at home?”

My most humbling 2020 experience and one I will always remember is when I reached out to our past School Captains, dating back to 1945, to pen a letter of encouragement to our current Year 12 girls as they commenced their final term at school.

A final term of school that follows a year that was divorced of the much-embraced friendship and bonds that are kindred by being on campus together. The response from our past School Captains to my call for action was overwhelming in number. Their sense of the community spirit, sisterhood and care for the Class of 2020 ever so present in their words. This extraordinary collection of over 50 letters was gifted to our Year 12 as they enjoyed their final weeks at School on campus.

As I do in Term 4 of every year, I reflect on the joy of celebrating with the Year 12 graduating class on their last day of School as they undertake a rite of passage walking (well running, some on scooters) through the wrought iron gates of Heyington Place for their final time as schoolgirls. Together, teachers and you, the younger sisters, line the driveway, forming a guard of honour to cheer on the girls. It is a colourful dash for the girls with laughter, singing and smiles.

At times this year, I glanced down that driveway, barely able to look at our beautiful gates, standing strong but closed and wondered if the COVID-19 pandemic stronghold on Melbourne would ever ease enough to allow the girls to make their dash through the gates.

It was with much celebration that we reached that day in Term 4, that we reached today (House Arts – thank you Year 11), a School again filled with girls and as we know, the gates did re-open, the roses bloomed and we laugh together about the extraordinary time we have all experienced. And the Year 12 girls, the Class of 2020, did make that colourful dash through the Heyington Gates with you by their side.

This year will be remembered as a unique time for our School and community. As I reflected on the year 2020, it is pleasing to see how the School responded, embraced the challenges and adapted to the ever changing circumstances. This strength, composure and agility has enabled us to discover so much about the capacity of our School, and in particular you, our students. I remain inspired by your persistence, your positivity and your ability to continuously adapt and to find the positive in everything – laughing, smiling and filling the campus this week with so much laughter and joy. Undoubtedly, girls – you shape the rich fabric of our almost 125 history, every day, and form part of the thread that binds us all.

I wish the St Catherine’s School community a relaxing and joyous Christmas celebration, a time when friends and family spend some precious, valuable time just being together.