Principal Communications, 10 June 2024

Dear Parents and Carers

One of the first things I learned when I came to Calvary was that the mango tree, at the heart of the Carbrook campus is a special space. I heard the stories of how when the land at Carbrook was first purchased with the intent to establish a P-12 campus, the founders prayed at this beautiful tree which marked the centre of the site.

I have seen over my years at Calvary how people were drawn to pray around the tree when the College was experiencing a time of great challenge. They were drawn to the tree again when COVID threatened our security and in 2021 when we completed the Cunningham pavilion project I hoped the old tree would stand at the heart of our community space for many years to come.

Sadly, that is not to be. About two years ago, we began working with an arborist when we could see our tree was in trouble. My family will tell you how much I love trees and I was determined to do all I could to extend the life of a tree the arborists told me was of an extreme age – had lived longer than most mangoes and was actually in its last days. And so, the grounds staff and I worked hard, alongside our patient arborist to try to extend the life of our mango tree.

We were rewarded when we found several ‘babies’ around our tree in the early days of last summer. With the help of Farmer H and some of our Year 6 students, we lifted these and potted them. They were kept in our Ag precinct for the past few months and have flourished. But the tree did not flourish and continued to put up a brave show despite its age.

I have had to make the difficult decision to have the old mango tree removed. This will happen over the winter break. We will be milling the wood and will keep it to season (dry) so that, in a few years, it can be worked by our talented ITD staff. I will keep you posted on the outcome of the project to keep a legacy of our tree for our future.

On your return next term, you will also find the first phase of this legacy - three of our baby mango trees (offspring of our grand old tree) planted up in large (environmentally friendly) geo-felt bags at the Mango café. These trees will be tended and grow to be Bonsai mango trees. They will serve as a reminder of how our Mango café came to be named and of our grand old tree.

And what will happen to the site of our old tree? Once the site has been prepared, we will be planting a trio of shade trees which I hope will stand tall for years to come, marking the heart of our campus. My hope is that generations of College students will sit under these trees and enjoy each other’s company in their shade.

Psalm 1 speaks of the person who delights in God and seeks to live in his ways, being “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither”. My love of trees has its origins in this image and in my desire that Calvary is a College that shows young people that they too, can live lives that yield fruit in season and bear leaves that never wither. Every Calvary student with faith for the future is at the heart of our vision and mission.

And so, I wish you a happy winter break and look forward to returning in a few weeks to another term 3 filled with opportunities for your children to learn and grow.

Yours sincerely

Cherylynne Gostelow