I would like to share with the Sacred Heart community a message I was able to deliver at the Secondary Awards on Wednesday, to the secondary students and parents. As this is the last newsletter for 2020, and my time with the Sacred Heart community comes to an end, I would like to say a very big thank you for the last 27 years of association with Sacred Heart.

My association with the Sacred Heart Community started in 1994. I moved to Cootamundra the year before and was lucky enough to gain a teaching position in the school. Very quickly I recognised that this was a unique community, that had a long history steeped in the traditions of the Sisters of Mercy and De La Salle Brothers, plus a long line of parish priests who were committed to the school. And without digging very deep you can find an equally long list of illustrious past students, staff and religious, many of whom were trail blazers in their own fields. Sir Isaac Newton, one of history’s most influential scientists once said, “We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us”. This quote applies to Sacred Heart and is precisely why our community is so very special. All the pioneering hard work, persistence, dedication and progress created and instilled by those who have gone before us, is the reason we sit here today celebrating, in this great church building, the wonderful achievements of our current students, in this great school.

As I sit and reflect on my 27 years, I am very aware of the integral and important place Sacred Heart has played in, not only my life, but my family’s as well. I have been privileged to work with 6 different and talented principals, 6 dedicated and committed parish priests and numerous graduating classes since 1994, including this outstanding and impressive group sitting before us today.

I have had the honor of working along side many of my ex-students, who made the great choice to become teachers and change makers of future generations. More recently am pleased to be teaching the children of some of my ex-students. I have witnessed a past Archbishop, Mark Coleridge, who said after viewing our impressive Passion Play, that our community, particularly our students, was certainly the “Jewel in the Crown” of the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese.

It has been a great honour to have the responsibility of developing our young people’s ability to think, to create, to grow and to love. I have learned so much from my students and am so grateful for the trust that parents placed in me to educate their children. It has been a pleasure to see my students discover their gifts and talents, embracing their life with passion and gusto and to demonstrate that they truly know how to be kind, forgiving, compassionate and loving to others in their lives.

Sometimes the job has been harder, and we struggle to reach our students. But then a knock on the door and an ex-student who is just “passing through”, comes back to say thanks and how they will always remember what we tried to do for them. That is truly one of the most satisfying moments …. ever.

We are so very different to any other school because Sacred Heart is in the business of planting seeds. We may never know if these seeds grow and develop but we live in hope, just like all those who have gone before us and whose shoulders we stand on, that those seeds do grow and flourish. And what seed is it …. The seed of God …. And what does the seed of God grow into? … The seed of God grows into God.

Thank you, Sacred Heart, for a wonderful 27 years. To the staff, students and parents, I thank you all for your friendship, kindness and support over these many years.

Thank you to the students for your happy and smiling faces every day, your enthusiasm to learn and do your best, and for always making me laugh.

Thank you to the Sacred Heart Staff who are the most dedicated group of professionals I know, who go above and beyond to support and educate the students in their care. Their dedication and commitment to ensuring that every student can learn and feels safe at school, is outstanding. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the Leadership Team – it has been very easy to work hard with such a passionate and dedicated team.

Thank you to the parents for your support of the school. For your endless fundraising to better the school’s resources and for always turning up (pre-COVID times!!) to the plethora of meetings and events.

It is difficult to leave – so many memories and so many of my own family’s milestones and significant occasions occurring within the school and parish community. But I leave feeling blessed and privileged knowing that I have been able to contribute to the beautiful story that is our Sacred Heart community.

From where I stand, I see a school that is in exceptionally good hands…. And I will keep watching from afar with interest, despite not physically being here. Sacred Heart always has and always will have a very special place in my heart.

Thank you.