Today is Founders Day – one of the most significant days in the Brigidine calendar.
Founders Day is more than a celebration – it is an expression of identity; of what it means to be Brigidine. The Mass on Wednesday and the gathering of students and staff today are not simply items on a calendar. They are the moments through which a community tells itself its own story.
There is something quietly powerful about a school that has maintained these traditions across decades, passing them from one generation of students to the next. Having spent two terms getting to know this place, I now understand why Founders Day holds such a special place in the hearts of so many Brigidine women, past and present. It is the kind of day that reminds us why we are here.
Honouring tradition while evolving
One of the things I have come to appreciate most in my first year at Brigidine is the way our traditions carry genuine meaning. Fortiter et Suaviter – strength and gentleness – is not a relic of the past. It is a living framework. I see it in the way our students advocate for one another, in the way our staff approach their work with both rigour and warmth, and in the way this community responds in moments of difficulty with courage and care in equal measure.
Honouring our past does not mean standing still. It means understanding what is worth carrying forward – the values, the relationships, the sense of shared purpose – and allowing those things to shape who we are becoming. Every generation of Brigidine students has inherited something from those who came before and added something of their own. The Class of 2026 is doing exactly that. Our task, as a school community, is to hold the space for that to happen – to protect what is essential while remaining open to growth and change.
Hearing it from the Class of 2026
This term I have had the pleasure of hosting a series of Principal’s lunches with our Year 12 students – small, informal gatherings that I have found to be one of the most rewarding parts of my week. I came to these lunches curious about how our students experience Brigidine, and what I heard has stayed with me.
What our Year 12 students spoke about, unprompted and with real conviction, was community. The warmth of this place. The way they have felt known and included – not just as students, but as individuals. They spoke about the breadth of opportunity at Brigidine: the creative outlets, the cocurricular and service opportunities, the leadership pathways, the sense that there is genuinely something here for everyone. Several spoke about choosing Brigidine because of its reputation for being a school where girls thrive – and feeling, as they near the end of their time here, that this reputation is well-earned.
This type of sentiment is something a community builds, slowly and intentionally, over many years. Hearing it reflected back so clearly by the students who are about to carry the Brigidine story into the world – that, for me, was one of the highlights of Term 2.
A term to be proud of
As we wrap up Term 2, I want to acknowledge how much this community has given over the past ten weeks. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Symposium in May was a genuine highlight, bringing more than 120 school leaders to our campus for a vital conversation about the wellbeing of young people. That Brigidine was at the centre of that conversation says something important about who we are and the contribution we make beyond our own gates.
Spirit Week has been a wonderful way to close the term, bringing energy, creativity and celebration to these final days. And today, Founders Day feels like exactly the right note on which to end. Not with exhaustion, but with gratitude and pride.
To our students: rest well and come back ready for the term ahead. To our families: thank you for your trust and partnership. To our staff: what you give to this community, day in and day out, does not go unnoticed.
I look forward to Term 3 with renewed energy and great anticipation for what lies ahead.
Kate Quinane
Principal
