Jarlmadangah Burru Immersion 2027 – Applications Now Open for Current Year 10 Students

Since 2009, Sacred Heart College has shared a special relationship with the Jarlmadangah Burru community in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Each year, eight students have the opportunity to walk gently and justly alongside the community, learning about Country, culture and the deep wisdom of First Peoples. The 2027 immersion will take place from 25 June to 4 July 2027.

This year’s participants described the immersion as a life-changing experience. Students who began the journey knowing one another mainly as peers from the same year level returned with deep friendships.

They reflected on the importance of learning about First Nations culture through relationships and on the differences between daily life in Jarlmadangah and their own lives in the Macedon Ranges. Some of their most significant learning was also uncomfortable: recognising their own privilege and reconsidering what matters. Concerns that once seemed important now felt less significant. Their reflections spoke of an experience that continues to shape how they understand themselves, others and the world.

During the immersion, students plan and lead classroom activities for the local primary school, take turns cooking for the group, and share in community life. The experience forms part of our College’s enduring commitment to Mercy Justice and the work of reconciliation.

Applications are now open for current Year 10 students and close at 11:00 am on Monday 16 November 2026.

While the College continues to work to keep costs down, families should anticipate an increase, with the cost currently estimated at $3,750.
Families are encouraged to discuss and reflect together on this opportunity and support their child’s application if they wish to apply. Further information will be provided to students shortlisted for the 2027 journey and their families.

Farewell to the Class of 2026

As our Year 12 students complete their examinations and prepare for the next chapter of their lives, we take the opportunity to reflect on their Graduation Mass and final day at Sacred Heart College.

Our Graduation Mass was a wonderful celebration of the journey our students have shared, the friendships formed and the people who have accompanied them along the way. The Mass began with a beautiful candle ritual, with six candles brought forward in procession by Year 12 students, representing our Mercy values of Compassion, Respect, Service, Courage, Hospitality and Justice. Our student leaders shared the reflections they had prepared about how these values have shaped their lives and experiences at the College.

The Gospel reminded our graduates that they are called to be “the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). In his homily, Fr Declan drew on St Paul's invitation to “clothe yourselves with love” (Col 3:14). As our graduates will soon take off their College blazers for the final time, they are invited to continue clothing themselves in love, carrying the Mercy values that have shaped them out into the world.

The following morning, our Year 12 students gathered for their final Homeroom in our Chapel, which celebrates its centenary this year. They were reminded that they are now part of the Chapel's 100-year history and that, like Catherine McAuley's 'walking nuns', they are called to carry mercy beyond the familiar walls of our College.

In a fitting conclusion to their journey, our graduates passed through the red Doors of Mercy for the final time, greeted by a guard of honour formed by our Year 7 students, who had themselves been welcomed through those same doors at the beginning of the year.

To the Class of 2026, we offer our prayers and very best wishes for your examinations and all the opportunities that lie ahead. As Catherine McAuley encouraged, “resolve to be good today, but better tomorrow.”

Go well, go with courage, and go as young people of Mercy. May you continue to walk the path that Catherine trod, carrying love, hope and mercy into the world.