Viewpoint

Earlier in the week, two Year 9 students, James Koch and Patrick Gijselman , interviewed me for a podcast assessment task they are completing as part of their Religious Education course this year. During the interview, they asked me two questions. These questions relate directly to what we mean when we speak about human excellence at Riverview.

The first question they asked was: how can students at Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview practically live out the Four Cs of Jesuit education?

Those Four Cs, of course, are competence, commitment, compassion and conscience. They were coined by a former Superior General of the Jesuits, and they give us a language for articulating the kind of people we are called by God to become, not just in the classroom, but in every part of our lives. Now and in the future.

For me, competence is about developing what you are good at - identifying the gifts God has given you and then choosing to cultivate them. We do this not for vainglory or self-promotion, but because our gifts are to be used for the greater glory of God and in service of others. I asked assembled students on Wednesday: what are the gifts God has given you? What are the things that are distinctive to you? And how will you cultivate them in the future so that you can share them generously with others?

Year 12 student, Stephen Barchinski , demonstrated his competence on the day by singing Два кольори (Two Colours) by O. Bilash. It was a bravura performance and provoked a thunderous ovation from his peers as he concluded the piece.

Similarly impressive was the Group Devised Performance performed by five of our HSC Drama students. The Heart of Jindiwarriback was performed by Patrick Gardiner, James Gibson, Oliver Moss, Max Power and Harry Ridgewell. It was the second time I had seen the performance, the first being at the HSC Drama Showcase on Sunday night in the O’Kelly Theatre. It was a wonderful night, and the following students are to be congratulated for their efforts: Thomas Poynton, Samuel Ryan, Max Power, Patrick Gardiner, James Gibson, Lachlan Clubb, Finn Egerton-Warberton, Oliver Moss, and Harry Ridgewell.

Tonight, the HSC Visual Arts Showcase will be held at the College. Congratulations to the following students for their efforts in cultivating their artistic gifts this year: Felix Boyle, Alexander Briscoe, Eden Butler, Luke Delany, Leo Hill, Henry Klok, Lachlan Maiers, Charlie McEvoy, Joseph McKeown, and Oliver Moss.

The second of the Four Cs is conscience. This is that small, still voice inside each of us that offers a moral compass in ethical decision-making. Our conscience asks us what is right – especially when the choice before us is difficult. We are all bestowed with the gift of conscience, but conscience must also be formed and developed. To live out this value, you must be willing to consider what the right decision is when you are faced with ethical dilemmas. You must listen to your conscience. Often, deep down, you know what the right thing is. The challenge is to have the courage to pursue it.

The third of the Four Cs is compassion.

Riverview has a well-deserved reputation for its superb Ignatian Service program, which all boys from Year 5 through to Year 12 are required to undertake during their time as students at our Jesuit school. It is our response to the Church’s ‘preferential option for the poor’. However, compassion cannot only be directed towards those who have the greatest call on our gifts. Compassion must also begin in the everyday: with the friends around you who need your help, with your teachers who deserve your respect, and especially with your family. To be a truly compassionate man, you need to be known as such by those who know you best. And so I asked each student to consider: to what extent do others know you as a compassionate person?

The fourth and final of the Four Cs is commitment.

For me, this is about being a man of integrity: someone whose word is his bond, someone who does what he says and says what he means. Integrity is such an essential and invaluable quality for you to possess in your life. It means being someone who can be relied upon, who will finish the task, who may learn from his mistakes, but who does not waver in his commitment to others and to God.

The second question James and Patrick asked me for their podcast was: what does a healthy masculinity look like?

This is a terrific question in our current context, because we hear a great deal about toxic masculinity and the dangers of things like the manosphere. For me, a positive masculinity begins with gratitude for the gift of masculinity that God has given us. That gift is a good thing, just as the gift of femininity is a good thing for girls and women.

Men have a natural and inherently good orientation to be heroic in our lives. I encourage this in each of our students, to pursue those greater things he was born for. In our Christian worldview, heroism means following the path of Jesus to the Cross and sacrificing yourself for others. The gift of masculinity brings with it certain obligations. It asks us to consider the type of men we want to be.

For me, healthy masculinity is (perhaps counter-intuitively) about the capacity for gentleness. A truly strong man has the capacity to be gentle with those in his life. A truly masculine man is a gentle man. I hope that through each student’s life he becomes known as a gentle man: a man for and with others, who is loved and who is capable of loving. I hope, too, that each of them develops the capacity to form deep and abiding relationships with others, and that those relationships are marked by forgiveness and by commitment. Our masculinity is a wonderful gift from God.

Thanks to James and Patrick – I hope you do well in your assessment task.

HUMAN EXCELLENCE ASSEMBLY

During the Assembly, we also acknowledged the students who were the five highest merit earners in their Year Group across Years 7–10 during Semester 1. Our Merit System recognises students who consistently embody the values of our College through their effort, engagement, respect and contribution to both learning and community life.

Each of these students received a Certificate of Achievement .

YEAR 7: Joseph Sivewright, Max Kennedy, Thomas Bradford, Cooper Briscoe, Samuel Dawes

YEAR 8: George Palmer, Edward Loneragan, Henry Hayduk, Charles Brown, Charles Beaman

YEAR 9: Edward Murray, William Johnston, Yalyal Hick, Angus Stanic, Leo Harvey, Oliver Lee

YEAR 10: Frank Yuille, Fredrick Dunn, Xavier Katich, Harry Johnston, Jack Healy

We also presented Gold Certificates to Year 11 and 12 students following the 2026 Semester 1 Academic Reporting cycle.

Gold Certificates are awarded to students on the basis of their diligent, conscientious and sustained application to their studies. These awards celebrate individual effort (the inputs into the learning process) rather than the academic result (the outputs of the learning process), and therefore this display of human excellence is theoretically within the reach of every student at the College should they also apply themselves to their studies at this very high level.

YEAR 11: George Bradford, Benjamin Camilleri, Caelan Cosgriff, Luis Criola, Jack Daley, James De Flamingh, Phoenix El-Agha, Charles Forshaw, Aedan Lewis, Arthur Lusher, Lewis Mills, Edward Morton, Kyan Payten, Charlie Pobje, Jack Stanic, Benjamin Stewart, Sachin Sundaraj, William Thomas, Patrick Waterford, Albert Yullie

YEAR 12: Matthew Beaman, Eden Butler, Patrick Delaney, Nicholas D Souza, Nicholas Dwyer, Joshua Dyster, Benjamin Eisenhauer, Harry Fingleton, Michael Hadwen, Mitchell Haigh, Bailey Hanson, Archer Hartman, Luke Jamieson, Charles Lennon, Alister Leung, Parker Lynn, Henry Martin, Thomas Nesbitt, Isaac Perkins, Harry Ridgewell, Alexander Teoh, Theo Turner, Lachlan Wappett, Gabriel Wark, Archer Wilson, Nicholas Wong, Angus Young