To our Sacred Heart Community
Feast of St Marcellin Champagnat
In this, the 150th year of Marist Education in Australia and 125th year of Sacred Heart College in Adelaide, the Feast of Saint Marcellin Champagnat provided the Hearts community an opportunity to celebrate the past and be hopeful for the future.
On Wednesday, the students and staff at Marcellin Campus welcomed Archbishop Patrick O’Regan, Joseph Catania (APRIM, Cardijn College) and the Cardijn College Captains and Mission leaders, along with the Marist Brothers from the Somerton Park Community. It was a wonderful celebration, beautifully accompanied by the Liturgical Choir and concluded with Br Michael Green’s address, parts of which are featured at the end of this blog. We once again feel grateful for the opportunity to gather as a community for these special occasions.
Champagnat Campus celebrated Mass today with long-time friend of the College, Monsignor Ian Dempsey, and the Marist Brothers, whose life-long commitment to keeping St Marcellin’s vision alive continues to inspire us. We began the celebration with an Acknowledgement of Country in Kaurna language, emphasising the intrinsic link that language has to culture and identity. The focus of our Feast Day Mass was to recall and understand what it means to be Marist, focusing on St Marcellin’s famous motto: “All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus”. Following the Mass, we were treated to a visit from St Marcellin himself (Benjamin from 9 Fourviere) who quizzed 10 contestants from our five Sacred Heart College Houses about the significant moments in his life.
Belinda Barrile (Champagnat) and Tim Fernandez (Marcellin)
Directors of Marist Mission
Young Women in STEM
On Wednesday 8 June, 15 Year 10 female Science students had an opportunity to engage in a Young Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) event at The University of Adelaide. The event aimed to welcome female high school students on campus to encourage them to study STEM and learn from technologists, engineers, and mathematicians through a range of hands-on activities.
The event showcased speakers of several inspirational women in Science and their significant contribution to different STEM industries. The girls engaged in three different hands-on workshops. Firstly, relating to mining engineering, the girls worked at programming Artificial Intelligence (AI) automated devices that are utilised in mines to improve productivity and efficiency at sourcing rare earth elements. In the mathematics faculty, they completed tasks to categorise and visualise data in different groups to determine relationships between variables. Finally, they investigated the chemical engineering faculty, specifically the extraction of essential oils and completed formulations to create their own perfume.
The girls were exceptional and found the day enriching to their knowledge, passion and interest in pursuing STEM.
Alicia Sampson
Chemistry Teacher
Year 12 Retreat
Year 12 students and staff are looking forward to the Year 12 Retreats, which are approaching at a rapid rate – just over a week to go! All Year 12’s will participate in a pre-retreat assembly on Wednesday 15 June during extended homeroom. This will be an opportunity for our Year 12’s to gain an insight into the purpose of the retreat, receive important, house-specific information and ask any last minute questions.
For all Year 12 families, House-specific retreat information was sent via SEQTA this afternoon, which includes the latest COVID-19 information, a “What to bring list” and arrival / departure times. If you have any last minute queries, please contact Tim Fernandez (timfernandez@shc.sa.ed.au) or your child’s Head of House.
Sibling Enrolments
Enrolment interviews have commenced this term for Year 7 2024 entry with a record number of applications received to date.
Due to the high demand for places, our first round of offers will be finalised this term, so it is important that current families who have a sibling eligible to commence at this entry point and have not submitted an application as yet, please submit an Application for Enrolment Form for their child as soon as possible. Application Forms can be accessed from the College website or collected from the Front Office at both the Champagnat and Marcellin campuses.
To ensure that our records and communication to you is accurate, it is important that we have current family contact details at all times. Should your residential address, telephone number or email address change at any time, please inform the College so our records can be updated.
For any enrolment enquiries, please contact our College Registrar, Virginia Miller, on 8350 2580 or email registrar@shc.sa.edu.au. Boarding enquiries can be directed to our Assistant to the Head of Boarding, Julie Raymond, on 8350 2559 or email boarding@shc.sa.edu.au.
At our Marcellin Feast Day Eucharist Brother Michael Green, Rector Aquinas College presented a ‘Marist Reflection’. His concluding comments are worthy of reflection:
My point is this. On the Feast of St Marcellin each year, in schools such as Sacred Heart and other Marist schools and universities right around the world, we celebrate much about our Marist identity. We honour things such as our Family Spirit, our inclusiveness, our simple and genuine ways of relating to one another, the presence of a loving God in our life, and so on. It is well that we do – all these are important for how you and I as Marists go about living the gospel of Jesus. Marcellin would certainly approve. But let us not forget that what Marcellin started was an educational movement; he founded the Brothers to be teachers. And he wanted young people to be confident and ambitious learners – and he believed absolutely that all of them could be. Were he to come to Sacred Heart today, that’s one key thing he’d be looking to see: the degree to which students are actively, proactively, committed to learning. He’d be hoping to find students who understand their learning needs and their preferred ways of learning, and who know why they are learning and where they want to go with it.
At this Mass for the Feast of St Marcellin, I take the opportunity to encourage you in your learning. Understand it, enjoy it, be ambitious in it, and be successful in it. And use it not only to reach your own potential, but to make a difference for good in our world. That would please St Marcellin Champagnat.
A great discussion to be had across the dinner table as to our students’ grasp of their engagement in their learning?
Kind regards,
Steve Byrne
Principal
