RECONCILIATION
At St Monica’s College, we recognise the special place and culture of Aboriginal peoples within Australia.
We acknowledge that the Wurundjeri (Dalton Road Campus and Davisson Street Campus) and Taungurun (Ostia Campus) people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which our College was built, have occupied and cared for this country over many generations. We celebrate their continuing contribution to the life of this region and respect their spiritual connection to the Earth and its Creator Spirit.
The staff & students of St Monica’s College, Epping are committed to reconciliation with Australia’s Aboriginal people, and raising community awareness of our Aboriginal heritage.
Our key actions that support this commitment include:
• Flying the Aboriginal flag continuously on both our Junior and Senior Campus
• Acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which our school is built at each full school formal gathering
• Celebration of our own Indigenous Awareness Week, NAIDOC Week, National Reconciliation Week, Indigenous Literacy Week and National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
• The creation of an Aboriginal Perspectives Committee, tasked with ensuring that Indigenous Perspectives are considered across the board.
• Teaching about indigenous reconciliation across the curriculum from 7 – 12
• The creation of an Indigenous Immersion to WA
• Our commitment to the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, the Opening the Doors Foundation and the FIRE Carrier Program
• Special liturgies that focus on reconciliation, including an indigenous stations of the cross
• A special song that is presented annually at our Term 2 full school assembly recognising First Australians
• Teaching students the Aboriginal “Our Father”
Who We Are
As Catholics, we experience the healing power of reconciliation through the Sacrament of Penance, and from this Sacrament we have learnt that reconciliation requires an acknowledgement of the wrongs committed, an apology and a firm commitment to ensure that the same wrong never happens again. Along with St Paul, we profess that “all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18) For this reason, we regard our efforts to promote Reconciliation as an integral part of our Christian calling to love God and neighbour.
We believe that all Australians share a collective responsibility for action on Aboriginal issues because we enjoy life in a society that was built, at least in part, upon injustices which have not yet been fully redressed. As a College community, we commit to ensuring that students and staff alike grow in their awareness of this responsibility. George Santayana famously said “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” and so we are committed to looking without bias at the wrongs perpetrated against Aboriginals and acknowledging the injustice which continues to this day. We commit to doing this in the classroom, whenever we gather as a community and during those occasions when we turn our thoughts and hearts to God in prayer.
Our Covenant
The St Monica’s College, Epping Reconciliation Covenant was developed after our College community was presented with ideas for reconciliation in our local community by the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, Melbourne. With the support and encouragement of the Principal and Senior Leadership Group, it was established and will continue to be refined by the College. The full college covenant is available here.
