Viewpoint

There are a number of student activities and programs taking place over the December/ January period. These include immersions to Cambodia, Nepal and India; the Ignatian Children Holiday Camp this week; a series of sporting activities including, camps, training and tours to the Gold Coast, QLD (Basketball) and Barwon, Vic. (Rowing) and Melbourne (Jesuit Tennis Carnival). Thank you to our generous staff who are accompanying the boys participating in each of these programs.

The College Reception is closed from Friday 19 December and reopens on Monday 5 January.

Please note that classes commence for students as follows:

All students should return to the College with the correct summer uniform, polished shoes and appropriate haircuts. Parental support in ensuring this is the case would be very much appreciated.

I wish every Riverview family a peaceful and loving Advent season and Christmas.

Below is the address I gave at the College’s 146th Annual Speech Day.

Welcome to the 146th Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview Annual Speech Day.

Welcome especially to His Grace, the Archbishop of Sydney and to the Chair of the Board, Mr Greg Mackay.

Your Grace, it is a great honour for us to have you back here at your alma mater that was so important in your formation and in your choice of a religious vocation. Please know how proud we are to have our local ordinary as an Old Boy of the College. We hope that your witness to a life of ministry might inspire some of our students to also answer God’s call to ordination. Whilst we’d prefer they join the Jesuits, we’d be just as proud if they joined your order, the Dominicans!

Now, I have a photograph of Archbishop Anthony on his Year 12 Speech Day in 1977. That is a lot of prizes Your Grace!

Today, as a community, we take measure of the last twelve months, what we have collectively achieved and ‘touch the stone’ of our mission as a Jesuit school in the 21st Century.

2025 has been a year of transition for the College. Alongside a new Principal, we have welcomed two new Deputy Principals in Mr Lloyd Walker and Mrs Gabby Smith. That our school has continued to operate at a high level is a tribute to our predecessors, especially Dr Paul Hine. Our mission has continued uninterrupted.

Our mission of finding God in all things, developing a faith that does justice and hence becoming men and women for others. Our mission of proposing Christ as the model of human life.

Despite these transitions, the formation of our 1600 students (including 300 boarders) has remained the focus of our wonderful teachers, of our dedicated professional and operational staff; of our leaders and governors; of our parents and guardians; of our Old Ignatians; of our volunteers.

The greatest joy for any of us is being witness to the goodness of our students; to seeing you grow into young Christian gentlemen; to observe your struggles and to support you in overcoming them. This is where we derive the most meaning from our connection to this Jesuit school community.

The greatest priority for us was (as it always has been) the leaving class of 2025 as they finished their time as students at the College. Our teachers worked hard to provide them with the necessary academic preparation for their HSC exams. Our newest Old Boys had a terrific year, and we celebrated them and their families well with a joyous series of events during Valete Week at the end of Term III. We look forward to celebrating their academic endeavours when the HSC results are released in two weeks’ time.

We are impressed with the manner in which the Class of 2025 have assumed leadership of the College this Term. With Lachlan Wappett, Miller Siasat and George Wormwell at the helm, they have taken up the obligations of leadership and have been generous in their leadership. I know that the whole school community will follow their lead. These student leaders have inherited a model of servant leadership by the 2025 student leaders– Angus Martinez, Simon Brown and Daniel Osborne.

The College has had many special moments in 2025; these included:

Immersions to Cambodia, India, Nepal and Bathurst Island.

Year 12 Retreat Week, Year 10 Service Week including Country Placements, tens of thousands of hours of service by Riverview boys and the summit of spiritual growth at the College – the Kairos Retreats.

Several outstanding dramatic productions including the College Musical, Newsies, The Year 12 Play, VaudeView 2025, Sketchy Business, and the Year 11 Play, Zoo Story. The College has announced that Singing in the Rain will be the 2026 Junior Musical.

Music is a very important and distinct part of a Jesuit school’s identity, and we were privileged to a number our very good public performances including most recently with Regis in Concert.

A wonderfully successful sporting year highlighted by our rowers winning the Head of the River, the National Championships and competing for their country at Henley Royal regatta; a superb rugby season with the 1st XV capturing their first GPS premiership since 2011; and a second consecutive combined-schools AFL premiership following victory in the inaugural AFL Jesuit Carnival; victory in the Jesuit Basketball Carnival and a very promising GPS season this summer with our 1sts currently competing in the Australian School Championships on the Gold Coast. As you’ve heard me say, the most meritorious dimension of these sporting successes is that they were achieved without compromising our values. We won being true to who we are. We won with homegrown talent. We would rather come last than to compromise those values.

We also won the ISDA Debating competition – the most competitive in NSW.

We had a History Tour to Europe, a Chinese Language Tour to China, A Basketball and Athletics Tour to the United States, a Cricket Tour to India, Rugby Tour to New Zealand and a Snowsports Camp in Thredbo.

And there have also been many other countless events and programs across the College Year.

In 2025, the College has been pursuing reforms in its academic program – the core business of our Jesuit school and our newly-launched Teaching & Learning Framework continues to be implemented through the Professional Learning program.

We have also mapped the Year 10 subject selection process to understand how it can best improve the capacity for students and families to make the best possible choice of their academic pathways prior to their Preliminary Year in the HSC.

In addition, the College offered its inaugural HSC Holiday Workshop in Week 3 of the July Holidays. This new initiative involved offering a comprehensive range of academic sessions aimed at boosting each student’s knowledge, skills and confidence across a broad range of HSC courses during the holiday break.

Adjustments have been made to streamline and improve the experience for Year 12 students and staff in 2026. These refinements aim to balance appropriate rites of passage with the desire for students to remain engaged academically through to the end of their formal schooling. As such, several non-academic events and programs have been moved or shortened.

The College will initiate a new HSC Study Week program in Week 9 of Term 3 next year which will be designed to change regular timetabled classes into a formative examination and feedback experience for the students.

In addition to these reforms, the College is decommissioning ReView at the end of the year for Senior Schools students and replacing it with the Riverview Academy. Riverview Academy will be a cost-free after-school academic tuition and study support service available to all Senior School students - both day boys and boarders. This program will operate from 3:30 PM to 6.00 PM, Monday to Thursday during term time. Tuition will be offered by recent high-achieving Riverview graduates,

Beyond the programs that are deliberately student and staff-focused, our community continued to be generous in its service to the mission of the College. The P&F, led by Mrs Leesa Feilen and Mrs Claudia McInerney maintained their role as the guardians of our parent culture; and the Old Ignatians Union continued to set a standard for school alumni associations under departing President, Mr Sean Cunial.

Whilst all of these events and activities were being organised and participated in, the main business of our work – the formation and care of the boys in the classroom by their teachers - continued unabated.

Today, we have been pleased to have been able to recognise and celebrate those students from across the College who have achieved excellence in a range of pursuits and programs. This pursuit and recognition of excellence is consistent with our Ignatian charism. She should never shy away from excellence. The maximisation of one’s gifts is a sign of your gratitude to God for those gifts.

I also want to recognise and celebrate the hundreds of Riverview students whose names weren’t called today, but who have also demonstrated excellence in their own way this year. They are the quiet heroes of our school. In particular:

In Year 7 Gonzaga, Darcy Kennedy

Darcy joined Riverview this year from Inverell and has made an outstanding contribution to the College in his first year. He has approached his studies with thoughtfulness, consistency, and most importantly a love of learning, regardless of the subject. Darcy has done all of this whilst committed to his passions of Rugby and Rowing, in which he competes at the highest level. He has been an exceptional leader in both the day school and boarding house, always displaying empathy and kindness to both staff and peers.

In Year 8 Claver, Tom Shanahan

Tom is a humble young man who consistently performs well in all his classes. He is kind, respectful, and thoughtful, always looking for ways to serve those around him. Throughout this year, Tom has been witnessed forming meaningful friendships and acting as a role model to the Year 7s in his Mentor Group. He has made meaningful contributions to the college community, participating enthusiastically in carnivals as well as in Co-Curricular activities such as the musical, the drama showcase, Theatresports.

In Year 9 Romero, Will Sampson-Giglio

Will has demonstrated outstanding growth throughout the year, particularly during the Year 9 Challenge, where his actions reflected maturity and a strong sense of responsibility. He consistently treated others with kindness and respect, fostering a positive environment for his peers. What stands out most is Will’s ability to see a need and act without hesitation, showing initiative and empathy in equal measure. These qualities highlight character traits aligned with someone aspiring to discover their own version of human excellence, making Will a role model within his cohort.

In Year 10 Xavier, Tom Symonds

Tom exemplifies consistent kindness, integrity, and positivity in every aspect of Riverview life. He is unfailingly polite to staff, so much so that teachers regularly email to commend his manner. Tom is welcoming and attentive to younger boys, taking those in his mentor group under his wing when they need support, and older students admire him for his positive outlook, easy-going nature, and generous spirit. He gives his full effort across academic, sporting, and community areas of the College, always striving to be his best, no matter how difficult the task.

In Year 11 Owen, James Re

Over his time at the College, James Re has grown steadily as both a leader and a young man. He has contributed to music through the Concert Band and Choir, represented the College in basketball, touch football and rugby, and distinguished himself in rowing across multiple squads and crews. His commitment to formation and service is evident through participation in Kairos, the Arrupe Academy, his work as a Eucharistic Minister, his leadership roles in Ignatian Service, Year 9 Reflection Day Leader, helped lead the Year 9 Power of Language Community Awareness session, environmental initiatives and is about to embark on the Cambodia Immersion. With over 70 hours of Ignatian Service completed across a wide range of programs, James has consistently demonstrated generosity, initiative, and care for younger students. James has maintained strong academic engagement and has been appointed as a Faith and Service Leader for 2026, a testament to his character and growth.

Congratulations to these students and all our students for their pursuit of excellence in 2025.

I will conclude by thanking our community for your efforts in supporting Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview and its mission in 2025.

Thank you to the Riverview Jesuit community who remain the soul of the College – in particular our Rector, Fr Tom Renshaw SJ, and College Chaplain, Fr Joe Dooley SJ. I also want to recognise and thank Fr Tom for his accompaniment this year in my first year as Principal.

Thank you to the College Board for your stewardship of the College. We are blessed to have a group of governors of such generous commitment to our mission. Thanks especially to Mr Greg Mackay who has been chairing the Board for the last six years and has served as a Director for 13 years. He has been very generous and committed in his leadership of the College. Thank you also to Ms Miriam Shiel and Ms Dionna Rae who are also finishing their terms as Directors.

Thank you to our College leaders for their leadership, service and compassion for your colleagues. I am blessed to work alongside you.

To our dedicated teaching and support staff – thank you for your generosity this year. I am blessed to work alongside so many people who are so committed to our mission as a Jesuit school. I would like to recognise Mr Marty Collins and Mr Neil Mushan who are both retiring this year after a lifetime of teaching boys in the Ignatian tradition.

To our parents and Old Boys – thank you for your willingness to contribute so generously to the life of the College.

To the boys of Riverview. Thank you for welcoming me this year. We are proud of each of you. The way you look after each other. The way you learn from your mistakes. The way you find joy. The way you reveal that God is in each of you.

Thank you.