Presidents Report – June 2026

Welcome to my July report. It takes a slightly different form this month, as I have been invited to write about community and values.

Before doing so, I would like to begin with a general update. The Community Relations team have been busy, and our committee has also been working hard behind the scenes to support their efforts.

The SMC Old Girls’ Association Committee is looking forward to an active second half of the year, with several important events ahead.

Our new Cultural Centre alumni opening event will be held on 31 July, and I would love to see many of you there.

On 19 August, Santa Maria College will host the 2026 Pleiades Gathering in the Cultural Centre. Representatives from our independent sister schools’ committees will join us for an evening that includes a tour of the new space, along with time to connect over canapés and drinks. As this year’s host committee, we have chosen the discussion theme, which will be shared next term. The Pleiades Gathering is a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences, strengthen alumni connections, and continue building the mission of our schools beyond graduation.

We are also looking forward to our inaugural joint social event with alumni from Aquinas College on Friday 18 September. Further details on the venue and bookings will be shared in good time, and I warmly encourage you to come along.

What does being part of the Santa Maria Community mean to you today?

Being part of the SMC community today, on reflection, has many broad similarities to my time as a student. I belong to a community of women with common purpose, who are working together to learn from and with each other, to share and challenge ideas, and to have some fun while doing it!  Others in the community become friends. The past pressures of academia are replaced by the current pressures of organisation, coordination, report writing, multiple emails, public speaking and measurable outcomes.  There are expected ways to behave, and obligations to be understood and upheld as a representative of the school, just as a student is expected to behave within school rules. Through established staff line management, I am ultimately responsible to the principal, just as I was as a student.

How have the Mercy values of compassion, respect, service and courage, shaped your life beyond your years at the College?

After graduating from SMC, I obtained a social work degree from UWA.  It has always struck me, that a number of social work colleagues are Catholic. Why?  I believe that it is because the values which are embedded in the SMC Catholic ethos, overlap and marry well with the values and ethics which underpin the social work profession – compassion, respect, justice, service, non-judgmental attitude, the courage to advocate for clients in varied arenas such as legal or health, equity and humanitarianism.  I worked as a social worker for 44 years until retiring, and I value what I learned from every client during that time and the connections made with them – resilience, openness to improve their lives and to work towards that goal, often despite the most crushing circumstances. I respected their efforts. The above values underpinned the skills required to work with the most challenging clients from all walks of life. I loved my work, and I believe that the values instilled during my school years definitely formed the roots of my professional life.

 Why do you think that a strong sense of community is so important in today’s world?

To again reference my social work career, a branch of social work specialises in community work. That is because a community embodies respectful human connection in a constructive, grassroots way. It is a group of people who can work together to achieve mutually beneficial goals “from the ground up”. Community has capacity to reach compromise. A well-established community is empowered by the strength of the group. In today’s world we are globally facing the disintegration of community due to wars. War is the opposite of community, being the breakdown of family, home, village, city, shelter, essential services and so on. Fundamentally war is born of individual, ego driven agendas which are promulgated “top down”. At an ideal extreme, I could believe that if a worldwide strong sense of community and respect for humanity were to exist, then there would be no war.    

On that happy thought, I conclude this month’s article, and wish you all a restful and enjoyable term break.

Regards

Mary Heavens

President –  SMC Old Girls’ Committee