During the holidays I listened to a Podcast on Catholic Schools. A gentleman from the ABC’s ‘Religion & Ethics’ program ran a panel discussion on the topic. He started off by saying that he was surprised that 40% of the students in Australian Catholic schools are not Catholic. The percentage at Shalom is closer to 50%. The discussion revolved around how a school can be Catholic if such a large percentage of the student population is not. One of the panel was a Year 12 student from a Catholic High School in Western Sydney. He was Sikh by Religion but just spoke so well about the values he admired in his school and how respectful he was of the Catholic tradition in the school and how respectful the school was of his faith background and that of many others in his school. The school he came from is in the Parramatta Diocese. The leader of that Diocese is Bishop Vincent Long (who is a legend!). In a separate interview, Bishop Vincent once said, "Our students and families are welcome in our schools not because they are Catholic, but because we are." I hope that, at least by the time that they graduate, all of our young women and men would have a really clear understanding about the Gospel values that make Shalom what it is. We value respect, compassion, integrity, inclusion and justice. All the things that Jesus got crucified for.

Last term, I got an email from a past Shalom student who is a practicing Muslim from a wonderful Muslim family. This student shared with me an interaction had with a fellow Muslim student who had recently graduated from another Catholic school. She described the interaction -

Like me, she immigrated to Australia at a young age and, like me, she had her entire education at catholic schools. Also similar to me, she was the only Muslim student in her cohort of 200+ students. However, I was surprised to hear that her experiences in a catholic school weren't all that positive. While I very excitedly told her about my time at Shalom, she could not relate in the slightest. I was shocked to hear of the constant racism she had faced from her peers and her teachers, as well as the lack of support from the school community. Speaking to her parents, I was told of how discriminative the school was towards her culture and beliefs and just how it was a constant struggle for her to get through high school.

To be honest with you Sir, I think what shocked me most was my reaction to hearing about her experiences. Perhaps what she experienced is the more common scenario and Shalom was the exception for me, or perhaps, I took my time at Shalom for granted. I certainly hope not. What it did do though, is make me realise once again how fortunate I was to be at Shalom and to have had the experiences I've had and to have met the people I've met. I don't think I will ever have the words to express how grateful I am to you and to the Shalom community, for making my time at Shalom so wonderful. I was just so full of gratitude and felt so blessed to think of my experiences at Shalom while I heard of their struggles. So, once again Sir, I say thank you.

I hope everyone of our students has a positive experience of authentic Catholic Education at Shalom. I hope this will be long lasting and will strongly influence them when they make decisions in life and for the education of their own children.

The Shalom Community will extend its support and prayer to the Castro family over coming weeks. Elizabeth Castro, the daughter of Lisa & Antonio and sister to Jonathan, lost a long battle with Cancer last Monday at 40 years of age. Lisa is our Finance Manager at Shalom and a much-loved figure here. Elizabeth was School Captain of Shalom in 2001. On behalf of our Shalom family, I will attend Elizabeth’s funeral in Port Douglas next Friday. Elizabeth was a Police Officer and will be farewelled very well by a very loving family and a grateful QPS.

The new ‘Coolock’ building will commence construction at the end of this month. It will take a few weeks for the Damien block to be demolished. Hopefully, this new addition to the College will be ready for occupation in Semester 2, 2025. Very pleased that local company Murchie Constructions, have won this $12m contract.

Mr Dan McMahon
Principal
mcmahond@shalomcollege.com