On Friday we will hold our annual Mother’s Day Breakfast at the College to acknowledge and celebrate the mothers and motherly figures in our lives.

The roots of Mother’s Day can be traced back to ancient civilizations with the Greeks and Romans honouring maternal figures during festivals dedicated to mother goddesses.

In the Catholic Tradition, Mother’s Day emerged from the fourth Sunday of Lent known as Laetare Sunday, when people would return to their ‘mother church’ or home parish. This became known as “Mothering Sunday” and as families reunited mothers started to become a part of the focus of the celebration.

The modern iteration of Mother’s Day emerged in the early 20th century, largely due to the efforts of one woman, Anna Jarvis. Inspired by her own mother’s dedication to community service and care, Jarvis campaigned for the establishment of a day to honour mothers in the United States. Her efforts bore fruit when, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day

From its ancient origins to its modern-day observance, Mother’s Day continues to serve as a reminder of the invaluable role mothers play in our lives and society as a whole. It is a day to express gratitude, celebrate family bonds, and recognize the immeasurable contributions of mothers everywhere.

We offer this prayer for all mothers:

A Mother’s Day Prayer

We pray for young mothers, who give life and count toes and tend to our every need;
May they be blessed with patience and tenderness to care for their families and themselves with great joy.
We pray for our own mothers who have nurtured and cared for us;
May they continue to guide us in strong and gentle ways.
We remember mothers who are separated from their children because of war, poverty, or conflict; May they feel the loving embrace of our God.
We pray for women who are not mothers but still love and shape us with motherly care and compassion.
We remember mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.

Amen

Kilbreda Festival 2024

What a wonderful fortnight or so it has been leading up to the celebration of “K-Fest” last night! Over multiple days our auditorium was filled at lunchtime with a very excited crowd as the qualifying heats for the festival were held. The courage of the performers who took to the stage together with the support and encouragement of the audience was a wonderful example of ‘strength and kindliness’.  Seventeen acts progressed through to the final, with students across Year 7 to 12, performing to a full auditorium. A wide variety of performances that spanned singing, dancing, musical performances and even a recitation of Shakespeare filled the program.  The talent and effort that had been given towards developing their skills over time in addition to rehearsing their performance was clear. It was an extremely difficult decision to choose the winners however, the winners of K-Fest 2024 were:

First place: Vocal Ensemble
Maya Corbett, Evie Hannan, Cara Honan, Elizabeth Jones, Alyce Jurdukian and Stella Uberti
‘Ex-Wives’ from the musical Six

Second place: Vocal Solo
Maya Corbett
‘When I Meet the Wizard’ from the musical Wicked

Third place: Dance Duo
April O’Brien and Lola Pearce
‘T.O.P Adjacent’ by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

While seventeen acts made it through the heats and three acts were chosen as the best performances overall, the community spirit and joy that the festival brought to students, staff and audience members was what was most significant about K-Fest!  Congratulations and thank you to our Performing Arts Leaders, Ms Everett, Ms Mitchell, and Ms Rabbetts for organising this wonderful community celebration!

Nicole Mangelsdorf
Principal