At the Senior School Assembly this week we witnessed one of the most important rituals which takes place at St Catherine’s. The Student Leaders Handover Assembly is where the 2025 school leaders hand over artefacts to the incoming 2026 student leaders. It is an iconic event each year in the life of the school. It was a special moment when our outgoing School Co-Captains Rachel Carton and Vinuki Ranatunga swapped their blue captains’ blazers with the incoming Co-Captains Kari Prendergast and Martha McKellar. This ‘passing of the baton’ is a rite of passage at St Catherine’s and heralds the continuity of leadership and service in our school community.

Leadership in 2026 is challenging. Professor Yuval Noah Harari, renowned author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, is a leading historian and a public intellectual. He comments that “for thousands of years, humans believed that authority came from the gods. Then, during the modern era, humanism gradually shifted authority from deities to people”. His perspective on leadership is one which has challenged traditional notions of leadership as purely about authority, charisma, or vision, instead highlighting the role of shared narratives and collective belief systems. He argues for a perspective that shifts leadership from being about individual power to the ability to cultivate trust, coherence, and meaning for people.

What I noticed during the Assembly and in my conversations with our student leaders this week, is their commitment to being good and ethical leaders. It is no coincidence the Year 9 Ethical Leadership Program developed this year has come to life at a school like St Catherine’s.

A very simple example of the thinking of our student leaders comes from Vinuki Ranatunga by way of an email to me yesterday. Vinuki and Rachel both attended Narda Edmondson’s beautiful farewell (see Principal Blue Ribbon piece) on Monday afternoon. Vinuki wrote back to me and said, “I am beyond grateful for the invitation yesterday afternoon. It truly meant a lot to be able to farewell Narda alongside her colleagues and to experience so strongly the loving culture of our school. These events are what bring perspective and meaning to our roles as both captains and students and to have the opportunity to dedicate time to these moments is a great privilege.”

Rachel and Vinuki and their team have led our school with distinction this year. Kari and Martha along with their team will ensure the school is in good hands for 2026.