Dear members of the Mount Lilydale Mercy College community,
Welcome to the new term, and one that I hope will be very productive and provide opportunity to excel and grow. I hope each and every one of you enjoyed some family time either over Easter or during the school holidays. I know I certainly enjoyed having my children return to a full family Easter Sunday and then family events like Collingwood playing at the MCG. It is always good to have them all home.
During the cause of the week, I had the opportunity to join my many colleagues in taking up a position in the Doyle Centre to participate in the Student Progress Interviews (SPIs). Whilst very few parents make appointments to see me, it is an opportunity to make myself available, have casual conversations and share experience. Understanding that positioning is important at such events, I found myself sitting in the path of the rear doors of the huge open-plan building and although it was heated, the draft that continually entered reminded me that winter was fast approaching and it was cold but the contrast of the heater above my head provided warmth.
Now I am not particularly a Walt Whitman fan, although he is considered a great American poet and writer and the so called father of free verse, I was reminded of a quite a famous quote of his: “Keep your face always towards the sunshine — and shadows will fall behind you”.
Now some suggest that Whitman was making analogies between the fact that many people find shadows scary and are a metaphor for the things that bother you, which should be left behind.
I might suggest for example that Whitman was making reference to that old Gaelic Prayer which contained the lines “May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face” but I suspect not, given Whitman was a bit of a sceptic.
So far more simply put he was suggesting that if you keep your face towards the sunshine (be an optimist and always look on the bright side) then the shadows will fall behind you (ignore fear and negative thoughts). (Source: quoteinvestigator.com)
Now I think this is a wonderful analogy for SPIs which are a time for reflective conversations, discussing academic progress to date and planning a strategy for improvement, given the understanding that everybody is capable of further learning. Most students would be proud of the work they have achieved so far this year and keen to be challenged for the future. Some students might not have achieved their best in Term 1 but it is important that these conversations are held so that the student can consolidate current learning to build in the future. SPIs are not a time for regret and not a time of remorse. The experience should always be about building for the future, having reflected on the past.
The other surprise to me about SPIs was the large number of families that chose to avail themselves of the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting rather than use the option for a Zoom meeting. Perhaps this reflects on the connection of our community. I look forward to understanding the data from this month’s SPI process as we plan future events. I thank all in our community for the positivity and collaborative nature of our SPI process.
This morning the College held the 2021 ANZAC Day service, as is our process, over the PA system led by our Humanities Prefect, Amy Wahenberger, and Year 12 student Emma De Paolo. The presentation finished with a video from the Australian War Memorial, which I understand will be further discussed in classes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mezWg85GDOQ&authuser=0
It is important that we stop reflect and give thanks. The College will be represented at the Dawn Service in Lilydale and I intend joining with my community in Monbulk at the RSL at dawn.
Of course, at each of these services The Ode will be recited taken from the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon.
For the Fallen
By Laurence Binyon
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Source: The London Times (1914) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57322/for-the-fallen
Given that this year we are celebrating 125 years of Mount Lilydale Mercy College and given our Irish ancestry with Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy being born in Ireland, let me finish with that Irish blessing mentioned earlier.
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. (Gaelic prayer)
In the spirit of Catherine, may each of you be blessed
God bless
Philip A Morison
Principal
