Volume 30 Issue 26 Tues 20 August

Principal's Message

Mrs. Catherine O'Kane

Year 12 Progress Interviews

As they approach the final stretch of their high school journey, our Class of 2024 is taking time this week to reflect on their time at All Hallows’ and set goals for Term 4 during Year 12 Progress Interviews. These interviews are invaluable in helping our students stay focused during their final weeks, with a special emphasis on strategies to maintain their overall health and wellbeing.

While our students are focused on their preparations for external exams, these conversations with our Leadership Team and senior leaders offer a crucial moment for reflection, prioritisation, and gaining perspective on all they have accomplished so far. We thank our dedicated staff for their wise counsel and guidance to our Class of 2024.

Looking to the week ahead

Last week, Pope Francis met with religious leaders in Rome and, during their audience, reflected on the importance of discernment.

“Discernment… requires listening to the Lord, to oneself, and to others. It is a process that calls for prayer, reflection, patient expectation, and, ultimately, courage and sacrifice”.

This powerful message reminds us of our 2024 School Theme, which calls us to Listen with Curiosity, Speak with Courage and Act with Integrity. Just as discernment involves listening to the Lord, ourselves, and others, our 2024 school theme encourages us to approach each moment with curiosity, being open to seeing the world from a different perspective, and viewing every moment through the lens of our faith, love and Mercy charism.

Discernment and Listening with Curiosity invite us to cultivate a thoughtful and compassionate community, where we are genuinely open to others’ opinions and experiences to understand better, be free from judgement and provide compassion.

Our annual Staff Retreat last Friday was an enriching experience and a time of powerful discernment for our staff as we contemplated the 8th Work of Mercy, which is our response to the modern challenges of environmental degradation and stewardship of the natural world. Our staff’s time at Mt Coot-tha and the Brisbane Botanical Gardens was an opportunity to discern the interconnectedness of all life and our Christian responsibility to act with compassion not only towards each other but also towards the earth that sustains us. I would like to thank our Mothers’ Network for their generosity in providing the funds for the staff’s lunches and refreshments throughout what was a very special day.

May we Listen with Curiosity, Speak with Courage and Act with Integrity in the coming week.

Mrs. Catherine O’Kane (Principal).

Dean of Mission

Staff Retreat

We Pray For

Liturgy Notice

School Events

Parent & Caregiver Events

Raffles & Offers

Head of Years 11 & 12

Head of Primary

House News

Tighe Breakfast

School Captains

Bridget's Bins

Hello beautiful people!

For this week’s newsletter I thought I would tell you all about a memory from my childhood for no particular reason, except to maybe have a laugh at my expense!

So without further adieu… *imagine a rewinding time sound for dramatic effect*

When I was 9, I had the greatest business idea known to humankind.

Or…so I thought. After randomly deciding I needed pocket money (to buy what, I have no idea), I ‘invented’ a thrilling new business concept: ‘Bridget’s Bins.’ This sophisticated, effortless alliteration meant it was simply destined for success.

‘Bridget’s Bins’ consisted of two services: taking out the recycling, normal and green bins of people in my neighbourhood for roadside collection and cleaning the notoriously filthy bins out. I charged only a few measly dollars for both services as per my mother’s instruction, but I didn’t care. I was ready to clean.

I coerced my dad into purchasing the necessary equipment, having assured him it was a worthy investment and that I could pay him back once I was swimming in profit. So, there I stood, with a high-pressure hose attachment, a scrubber, a spray bottle with antiseptic wash labelled “Bridget’s Bins: keep off!” and, of course, a dream. And that dream was to clean bins.

I made flyers outlining what I had to offer and spent hours on the weekend trekking around nearby streets to put them in mailboxes. All that remained was to wait for what was sure to be an influx of customers. I waited, and waited, and waited, and… not a single person called.

How could this be? Had the flyers got lost in the mail?

No. Apparently, people thought that I was a little young to be a reliable entrepreneur, so to this day, my only customers were sadly… my parents. All Bridget’s Bins gave me was a lifelong chore of cleaning our family’s bins since my “experience” in the “business” meant I was “good at it.” I have upped my prices since my 9-year-old rates and charge extra if they are especially stinky. I am the CEO of Bridget’s Bins, so I am allowed to do that.

While I maintain that Bridget’s Bins was just tragically ahead of its time, its epic failure taught me a lot.

Firstly, that your youth sometimes means people underestimate you! But more so, that sometimes, despite your best efforts, some things are just not meant to be. In the face of failure, I learnt the need to evaluate which path to follow: the path to keep surging forward, or the path to pivot to an alternative. Bridget’s Bins forced me to take the disappointing but necessary second path. I redirected my energy into other means. In the years following, through car-washing, babysitting and cleaning jobs, I achieved my pocket money goal- a success born from failure.

We’ve all had our Bridget’s Bin moment (or maybe we haven’t, and maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better). Don’t let your Bridget’s Bins stop you from achieving your next big thing!

Have an amazing week, and if your bins ever need a clean, you know who to call 😅

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