Mrs Dunwoody reflects on the importance of Language and Culture week at Camberwell Girls.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have reached the end of the 2025 school year which has seen wonderful learning opportunities for our students.
In this final editorial I would like to thank most sincerely our teachers and professional services staff for their care and commitment each day. To our School Council, chaired by Dr Nikita Weickhardt, and members of our Council Sub-Committees, thank you for your support and work throughout the year to enable us to provide wonderful opportunities and learning environments for our students. We are also supported by our Parents and Friends Association, including Year Level Representatives throughout the year. I also want to thank you, our parents, as we value our partnership in working together for the best outcomes for our students.
This year we have seen the commencement of the Barbara Sutton Hall refurbishment and I look forward to welcoming you all to this venue for numerous events when completed in 2026.
Our School Chaplain, Reverend Helen Creed, will conclude the year with her Christmas message. In advance, I would like to wish you and your loved ones peace, joy, love, and hope over the Christmas season. Enjoy your holidays and I look forward to welcoming you back to school in 2026.
With best wishes,
Debbie Dunwoody
Principal
What do we want for Christmas?
“I’m making a list, I’m checking it twice . . .”
I love choosing gifts for loved ones. I also love taking care with the wrapping! I recently received a message from Prague House (an Aged Care home in Kew), expressing gratitude to our Year 9s, who had packed Christmas parcels for the residents there. The message said:
“I want to thank the amazing girls . . . It means a great deal to the residents, who in many cases, have no family.”
Last week, I appreciated talking to one of our CGGS teachers, a dad of three young children, about how children experience what can be a frenzy of Christmas gift-giving. He wants his children to enjoy the fun of opening presents, but he also wants them to grow up appreciating the gift of family gathered around; to value “presence” as well as “presents”. He hopes that one of the things his children will “ask for” as they grow up is time with grandparents, cousins, aunties and uncles.
At our ELC Christmas Chapel last week, I told the 3 and 4 year-olds the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. As well as chatting about what makes a good gift for a baby, I asked the children, “Do babies give us presents when they are born?” Our first thought was “No, babies can’t give presents!” But then we thought again. Babies bring us many gifts, but none of them material. And the baby Jesus, the one who is God-with-us, brings us the most precious gifts of all: divine love, understanding, healing and grace.
As we approach Christmas, along with all the preparations, gatherings and shopping, we might also make some room to ask ourselves the question: What is it that I really want? Putting aside all the lovely books, food, gadgets, jewellery, experiences, let’s also reflect on the things that our souls are crying out for, the things for which our spirits long. Sister Joyce Rupp, O.S.M., is a Roman Catholic author and speaker. One year, she wrote a list of her “gift requests”:
Love
To be the north star in my soul.
Stillness
To sweep through my restless mind.
Non violence
To enter every thought, word, deed and desire.
Savouring
To remember with thankfulness lovely moments of beauty, and the joy of people’s goodwill.
Other centredness
To dissolve the part of myself that prefers to ignore the plight of others.
Laughter
To express the dance of joy amid the duties and responsibilities.
Perspective
To see each person or situation through the lens of kindness.
Hope
To rekindle my gratitude for the source of love,
Who is present in each part of my life.
Adapted from Joyce Rupp: Return to the root: Reflections on the Inner Life, Soren Books, 2021, p 216.
Maybe you, too, would like to spend some time writing down your requests? Then we might approach Christmas with a renewed sense of the loving hopes that reside within us, and of the sacredness of life.
My prayers this Christmas Eve will be particularly for those within our school community who have experienced loss this year.
May the God who brings light to bear on every situation, bless you deeply this Christmas-time.
Helen Creed
School Chaplain
It's been a busy fortnight at Secondary School with an Upskill day, excursions, breakfasts, and competitions.
The Year 3 and 4 students had a very special visitor in their Art class this week, whilst the ELC children are learning about community.
The community came together in a powerful show of unity to celebrate International Women’s Day.
