From the College Principal

Newsletter 1 2025

Dear Members of the St Andrews College Community,

Welcome back to the College for what promises to be another successful year. I trust that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year. Both staff and students have returned with enthusiasm with two hundred and fifty Year 7 students, and a number of new students throughout the Year 8-11 year groups commencing as well. Due to the College’s continued expansion we have had to employ additional staff with only two staff members leaving the College.

We welcome Ms Alexy, Mr Dela Paz, Ms Estepa, Ms Ruffin, Ms Dimitriou and Mrs Geddes to the College with the knowledge that we are fortunate to have such skilled and enthusiastic teachers and support staff.

Bible Reading Reflections: Luke 6:17, 20-26

If anyone was expecting Jesus to deliver this sermon from a mountain, they got a shock. The first thing we notice in this Sunday’s reading from Luke is this detail: “Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a stretch of level ground…”

This isn’t the Sermon on the Mount — though it certainly sounds a lot like it and echoes many of its themes. What we have here is what scholars commonly call “The Sermon on the Plain” — Jesus speaking to his followers on their own terms, on their own level. Here, he was able to look them in the eye and, quite literally, not talk down to them.

After giving us the setting for this sermon, Luke adds one other detail that should make all of us sit up and pay attention. He spoke to “a great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said…”

There was quite a crowd, a diverse bunch of people. But what Jesus had to say at this moment was directed to a very specific audience: his disciples, those who had chosen to follow him. It wasn’t directed to just anyone.

Two thousand years ago, he spoke to those who were seeking to change their lives and who had elected to follow this itinerant preacher from a forgotten town. Today, he’s speaking directly to us. We are his modern-day disciples. For the next few weeks, until the start of Lent, we will hear from this sermon in detail.

Maybe we’ve heard these teachings so often, they don’t shock us or sound remotely radical. But listen closely. Imagine hearing them for the first time.

“Blessed are you who are poor,” he begins, “for the kingdom of God is yours.” From there, he goes on to speak to us directly — saying “you” again and again — to bless the hungry, the weeping, the hated. He goes on to express “woe” for the rich, the “filled,” the laughing, those who are praised.

His words undoubtedly stunned his first followers.

But what about us?

What do we hear when Christ turns our expectations upside down and gives us a new way of thinking about what it means to be “blessed?” Do we realise what he is saying, what he is asking us to do?

The Gospel readings from The Sermon on the Plain are provocative and potent — calling on us to think differently about love, about mercy, about God’s expectations and our own. We are exhorted to love those who hate us, to turn the other cheek, to give to everyone and to hold nothing back.

It’s worth remembering: in this moment, Jesus doesn’t speak simply as a teacher to his students, offering lessons from on high.

He’s speaking as one of us, at eye level. His teachings are, in a literal sense, grounded. He speaks as someone who understands deeply what it is to love, to give, to hunger, to weep. To quote a popular ad campaign, he is telling his followers that “he gets us.”

And the question we need to ask ourselves across the next three weeks is: do we get him? Are we truly listening to what he has to say?

In these passages from Luke’s Gospel, we hear once again not only the depth and breadth of Christ’s compassion but also the bracing reality that what he had to say — then and now — is boldly countercultural. It’s not surprising that many who heard these words found them hard to take and difficult to absorb.

Maybe we’ve heard them so often, we take them for granted. We shouldn’t. These readings, together, form a powerful final lesson before Lent, words to carry with us into the desert and into life.

Opening Mass:

Thank you to Fr Kevin, Mr Hoare, Mrs Anthony, Ms Tan, Choir and Music staff, staff and students for our beautiful Mass to start what will be another year of success at St Andrews College. The student body were most reverent and attentive. The student participation and leadership of our liturgical life at the College and in the community is growing rapidly. We will continue to offer many opportunities in this domain via formation and participation. After all, our young people are the future of our Church.

Our Opening Address delivered by our College Captains Suwanthi and Aditiya was inspirational and directed firmly at taking our College to another level. I hope it serves to encourage further student initiative and leadership with our great school.

2024 High Achievers Assembly:

Congratulations to the many students from the Class of 2024 who joined us to celebrate their achievements in the Higher School Certificate. The High Achievers also included a number of Accelerated Year 11 students who will be completing their Higher School Certificate in 2025. It demonstrates the success of the Acceleration Program at the College with over 90 students involved in the program now. A detailed Report can be found in the following pages from Mrs Kalifa.

The speech from our HSC DUX Ishwinder Nijjar was humble and pertinent. I trust it inspired the students as much as it did me.

Year 7 Meet and Greet Evening:

Thank you to Ms Harwood, Mr Cetenic, the Year 7 Learning Advisors, College Leadership Team, Mrs Anzelloti and the staff who facilitated a most informative evening for parents as they navigate high school, in some cases for the first time. Thank you to our parents and families who joined us for the evening. The feedback I have received to date has been most encouraging with the students settling into high school life well. 

College Swimming Carnival:

Congratulations on a wonderful day of participation, competition and celebration. Many hours go into the preparation for our Carnivals and I thank the staff for all the work they have done in the lead up to the day. Thank you to the students for their participation on the day and to the parents who were able to make the Carnival to support. Many hands go into making it a successful day.

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Fidem in Christo

Dr Stephen Kennaugh
Principal