Welcome back to term 4 and in a few weeks, a return to face-to-face learning. I do hope you had a restful break and that the return to term has been smooth and uneventful.

Last Tuesday, during Pastoral, all girls listened to a presentation by Mr Luke S Kennedy. In his presentation, he spoke at length about the need to be true to yourself and that all people need to take the masks off that they sometimes wear which protect and disguise them from who they really are to the people around them. His powerful message was that girls need to love and respect themselves for who they are before they can hope to grow and develop into the people they have the potential to become. He stresses the importance of making mistakes and looking at these as opportunities for learning and growth. Finally, he stressed the importance of not being caught up in the concern of what others think of you!

It is a very timely message, particularly as you would have recently read in the media about the revelations that Facebook knowingly compromised the health and safety of their users for their own profit and financial gain. Over the course of several years, their own researchers confirmed that 32 per cent of girls who use Instagram felt worse about their bodies and self-image after using the social media application.

In a report from the Wall Street Journal, it is claimed that Facebook knows what is in the design of Instagram that makes it so harmful for adolescents. It is overloaded with images of unattainable beauty and unachievably thin and toned physiques. Unfortunately, it is only celebrities and social media influencers using these tools- young people are under pressure to curate their “best selves” and “best lives" for Instagram. Their own researchers have made recommendations to lessen the negative impact these filters and images can have on young people, however, Instagram have decided not to take up these recommendations.

How can our girls navigate this treacherous and dark path set up by these large and well-resourced companies? It is not easy growing up as a young girl in today’s times. They need to be very resilient and confident in their own skin. It is for this reason that presentations such as the one we heard from Luke S Kennedy this week and other previous presenters such as Danielle Millar, Madonna King, and Maggie Dent are so important in assisting parents and staff guide our girls through these formative times. We celebrated International Day of the Girl on Monday and it was good to see the joy and exuberance still present in our girls, even online.

You will have received your letter outlining our return to face-to-face over this term. Please contact the College if you have any questions or concerns about this strategy. I hope you were/are able to attend one of the Parent/Teacher/Student interview times we have allocated over the two weeks. It will be very important for you to discuss your daughter’s progress and hear both the success she has achieved over the term and the recommendations for improvement.

I will finish with a reflection provided by Joan Chittister on Labour Day, which we celebrated on 4 October.

Blessings

Sue Lennox - Principal

“Work is the mark of the conscientiously human. We do not live to outgrow work. We live to work well, to work with purpose, to work with honesty and quality and artistry.

The contemplative is overcome by the notion of “tilling the garden and keeping it.” Work does not distract us from God. It brings the reign of God closer than it was before we came. Work doesn’t take us away from God. It continues the work of God through us. Work is the priesthood of the human race. It turns the ordinary into the grandeur of God.”
by Joan Chittister