I hope you and your families had a restful and joyful Easter break, filled with time to reconnect and recharge. It is a pleasure to welcome everyone back, refreshed and ready for the Term ahead.

Congratulations to all students who finished Term 1 so strongly – through assessment, CASSSA sport finals, and our Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper, where we shared in the experience of the washing of the feet.

As we step into Term 2, we do so still grounded in the grace and promise of Easter – a 50-day season that calls us to live with hope, courage and renewed purpose.

In a Benedictine reflection, Easter: Embracing Light and Darkness (Gehr, 2020), we are reminded that Easter is not just about dazzling light, but about holding both light and darkness together in our human experience. It acknowledges that growth, transformation and learning do not come without challenge. Easter teaches us that hope is not the absence of difficulty, but a quiet confidence that life, love and possibility will ultimately prevail.

This message feels especially relevant as we begin a new term of learning. For our students, hope takes shape in very practical ways. It asks them to set goals and create dreams that are possible, achievable and life-giving. It calls them to arrive willing and ready to engage – what we describe as being “Switched On for Learning” (Marzano, 2017).

Being switched on for learning is not just a classroom idea – it is a way of showing up across all aspects of College life: in lessons, in social spaces, in co-curricular activities and in House events. For our students, this means:

• Being prepared for school and for each class or activity
• Following classroom expectations, processes, procedures and routines
• Using feedback from teachers, assessment tasks and our progressive reporting processes to inform next steps in learning
• Reviewing Term, Unit or Semester planners to ensure important dates are noted
• Developing co-curricular, study and home learning timetables for the Term
• Re-establishing home routines that support learning, activity and healthy rest
• Completing required tasks
• And most importantly, being actively engaged in learning and activities approaching each day positively, asking questions, advocating for themselves and striving to go further and aim higher 

As Easter people, we recognise that this level of engagement is not always easy. Learning can bring moments of uncertainty, challenge and vulnerability. Yet it is often in these very moments that hope is most alive – when students persevere, seek support and remain open to growth.

Our role, as educators and families, is a powerful one.  In true partnership, we are called to be both supporters and critical friends.  We provide the support, care and opportunities that allow young people to flourish. At the same time, as “critical friends”, we are also called to challenge, to ask thoughtful questions, to guide without taking over, and to equipe our students with the language and confidence to advocate for themselves and their learning. 

Ultimately, this is what it means to be Easter people, people of hope. When we nurture hope-filled hearts in our young people, we empower them to be a transforming and inspiring presence within our College community and in the wider world. 

Thank you to Ms Condoleon and Miss Christie for their leadership and care in supporting our Year 11 students during their Immersion Experience in North Queensland over the holiday break. Even the threat of a cyclone could not deter our LHC students from generously giving of themselves and making a meaningful contribution to the communities they encountered.

Ms Kill, Mrs Brockhurst, Mrs Rastegorac and I, along with 22 students, will soon walk in the footsteps of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan as we journey to Timor-Leste. This experience offers a powerful opportunity to witness the work of the Sisters and other religious orders, and to deepen our understanding of service, faith and global connection. Our sincere thanks to Mrs Ballenger for her thoughtful organisation and preparation of this immersion.

We also hold in our prayers Mrs Ballenger, Mrs Hayes and Mrs Peta Perring as they undertake a pilgrimage tracing the journeys of St Benedict, St Scholastica and Archbishop John Bede Polding. Their travels honour the legacy of these figures, whose vision and commitment laid the rich foundations upon which we continue to educate and inspire young Benedictine women today.

Thank you to the School Operations staff who have been working over the holiday period to ensure the College is ready for learning in Term 2. Many classrooms have new felt walls for the displaying of student work and resources; new umbrellas have been installed Soubouris Place and IT Systems have been improved and strengthened.  

Please take a moment to review the important updates for Term 2 in the tabs below.

As we begin this new term, thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to strengthen our College community together. May we move forward with gratitude, purpose, and hearts fully switched on to learning, growth and hope.

With kindness, peace and hope,

Mrs Kay Gleeson 
Principal 
Lourdes Hill College 

1. Gehr, J.B. (2020) Easter: Embracing light and darkness. Being Benedictine, 12 April. Available at: https://beingbenedictine.com/2020/04/12/easter-embracing-light-and-darkness/ (Accessed: 16 April 2026).
2. Marzano, R.J. (2017) The new art and science of teaching. Rev. and expanded edn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press