FROM THE PRINCIPAL Mrs Judith Tudball
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” HELEN KELLER
I
could not think of a more fitting theme for the winter edition of our Centenary Fideliter. ‘Inspiration’ comes from the Latin word, inspirare, meaning ‘to breathe into’, and it quickly came to figuratively mean to excite, affect or guide. To guide St Mary’s in its Centenary year is humbling indeed. The School has inspired and breathed life into generations of girls and will continue to do so for many years to come. When I arrived at St Mary’s almost three years ago, I immediately sensed that there was something special about this school. Now, I strongly believe that the magic of St Mary’s is something that cannot be seen or even touched, as it lies in the hearts of everybody who has been involved with the School over the past 100 years. Our Old Girls often refer to it as an intangible ‘X-factor’, something that is difficult to articulate but easily felt. I witnessed this most recently when meeting with Grace Richardson (Snook ’48) at our Centenary Old Girls’ Reunion in Canberra. The most senior Old Girl to attend our east coast reunions, Grace spoke fondly of her time at St Mary’s in West Perth and shared her memories with our youngest attendees, Claire Reid (’19) and 2020 Dux, Oliva Nolan. The intergenerational love and affection for St Mary’s was on full display at this heart-warming event. Inspiration is firmly ingrained in our heritage and will continue into our exciting future. It has been present in the outstanding leadership of our School, commencing with The Reverend Charles Lawrence Riley in 1921, as well as in the School’s inspirational governance, which was shaped by the likes of Mrs Edith Cowan OBE, the first woman elected to parliament in Australia and a founding member of our Board of Governors. It comes to life in our successful Old Girls and in our current students, who inspire us daily with their can-do spirit. It is also visible in our generous donors, who selflessly support the School so that deserving young girls can enjoy the benefits of a St Mary’s education, and we see it in our exciting Masterplan 2019-2030, which promises to breathe new life into our teaching spaces and stimulate current and future generations of students and staff.
Already this year, we have witnessed several stirring Centenary events, such as the launch of our Centenary Book, A Place to Grow, the Centenary Old Girls’ Day and our moving Bishop Riley Memorial Lecture, delivered by Dr Craig Challen SC OAM, which was generously sponsored by the Foundation. And there are more exciting commemorative events to come, including our Centenary Week celebrations commencing on 14 September, and the inaugural performance of our Paul Jarmancommissioned Centenary choral and orchestral work, which will be premiered at Speech Night on Friday 3 December. This year, Speech Night will be held at HBF Stadium so that we can deliver a truly creative, collaborative and holistic celebration of girls discovering their best at St Mary’s for the past 100 years. I look forward to you joining me at this inspirational event. Thank you for everything that you have done and continue to do to inspire the St Mary’s community.
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FIDELITER From the Principal
