Over the last two weeks, the Senior Leadership Team have been meeting with the 2023 Year 7 students and their families who will be joining our Carmel community next year. During these meetings there is an opportunity to discuss why parents have chosen Carmel as their daughter’s future school. Time and time again it is clear that a Catholic education in a Mercy tradition where our Mercy values are at the centre of what we do and who we hope our young women will become, play a key role in why families are entrusting their daughters’ education to us at Carmel.

New families to our community have a desire for their daughter to become a part of who we are, and what we represent. Parents want their daughters to achieve inside and outside the classroom, and importantly, want their daughters to develop their own identity and sense of self, whilst living and acting with our Mercy values in their heart.

It is a privilege to have been involved in these meetings, and to hear how highly our school is regarded. There is an air of nervous excitement from the young girls, and equally from new parents, but a confidence and faith that recognises how strong our community is. It is acknowledged that we are all working in partnership to ensure that our young women are empowered to challenge and shape their future whilst being women who live by our Mercy values; being compassionate and respectful, seeking justice for others and themselves, and having the courage to pursue their ambitions. 

As we celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday, it is important to acknowledge and celebrate that it is the parents who are the first teachers of their children and that parents will continue to teach and guide their daughters long after they have left our school grounds. So, to our parent community, thank you. Thank you for being the base and an integral part of our community. Thank you for supporting the staff at Carmel who work with and alongside your daughter to ensure that she develops the skills and attributes to be equipped and empowered to pursue her personal excellence, so that she will be prepared to challenge and shape the future, whilst being a young woman of Mercy who acts justly, loves tenderly and walks humbly with our God.

A prayer for all of the fathers in our Carmel community for Sunday;

God our Father,

We give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.

We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation;

may they find courage and perseverance

to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.

We pray for fathers around the world

whose children are lost or suffering;

may they know that the God of compassion

walks with them in their sorrow.

We pray for men who are not fathers

but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.

We remember fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers

who are no longer with us

but who live forever in our memory

and nourish us with their love. Amen