More than 120 students and educators from 17 Presentation schools across Australia gathered at Iona Presentation College in Mosman Park recently for three days of faith, leadership and formation, inspired by the enduring legacy of Venerable Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters.
The Nagle Education Alliance of Australia (NEAA) Student Conference brought the members of the Australian Presentation community together under the theme Carriers of the Lantern.
Iona’s Principal and President of NEAA, Robyn Miller, said it was a privilege to see Presentation students from across Australia come together, united by a shared faith and heritage.
“Their passion and sense of purpose give us great confidence that Nano Nagle’s light will continue to shine brightly for generations to come,” she added.
The theme drew inspiration from Venerable Nano Nagle, foundress of the Presentation Sisters, who became known as the ‘Lady of the Lantern’ as she walked the streets of Cork, Ireland, caring for those experiencing poverty and providing education to children at a time when doing so placed her at considerable personal risk.
More than two centuries later, the lantern remains a powerful symbol of her response to the Gospel mission and an invitation to young people to continue bringing the light of Christ to others through compassion, courage, justice and service.
The Conference invited students to consider how Nano’s vision can continue to find expression in contemporary Catholic education and, importantly, how they can become carriers of that vision themselves.
Across the three-day conference, delegates explored three interconnected sub- themes: Igniting the Flame – Nano Nagle’s Vision; Carrying the Light – The Presentation Charism Today; and Lighting the Way Forward.
Prayer and ritual were woven throughout the program via immersive learning, creative workshops, cultural experiences, leadership activities and collaboration between schools.
Through these experiences, students were encouraged not simply to learn about Presentation history, but to consider how the values at the heart of Venerable Nano Nagle’s vision – including hospitality, simplicity, compassion and justice – can shape the way they respond to the needs of their own communities.
As one of the student delegates Samara shared, “The conference showed me that the Presentation spirit can look different in everyone, but it is something we each have a responsibility to carry forward.”
The gathering also provided an opportunity for students from Presentation schools in different parts of Australia to discover the shared Presentation heritage that connects their communities.
Despite the geographical distance between their schools, delegates were united by a common story and a shared responsibility to ensure the Presentation charism is vibrant and reimagined for future generations.
A highlight of the Conference was the Spark Tank Showcase, which placed students at the centre of imagining how the Presentation charism might be carried forward.
Working collaboratively with students from other Presentation schools, delegates developed and pitched innovative ideas designed to ensure Nano Nagle’s vision continues to inspire outreach to those on the margins.
The initiative encouraged students to move from reflection to action, asking them to consider how the values they had explored during the conference could be translated into practical initiatives.
The creativity, passion and sense of purpose demonstrated through the showcase reflected one of the central messages of the gathering: the Presentation story is not simply something inherited from the past, but something each new generation is called to live and shape.
The final day broadened the gathering further, with delegates from Western Australian Presentation Primary schools attending their morning at the junior school, followed by an afternoon with the secondary delegates.
Together, primary and secondary students participated in prayer and a special Nano Nagle immersive learning experience, encouraging them to reflect more deeply on hospitality, simplicity, compassion and justice.
The experience provided younger students with an opportunity to encounter Nano’s story in a contemporary way while reinforcing the connection shared across the wider Presentation community.
Hospitality, shared faith and community remained central to the final day, culminating in the Conference Closing Mass.
The gathering offered participants an opportunity to recognise that while Presentation schools may be separated by thousands of kilometres, they remain connected by the Gospel, by Venerable Nano Nagle’s vision and by a shared commitment to education grounded in faith and service.
For Iona Presentation College, hosting the national gathering was also an opportunity to welcome fellow Presentation people into a community whose own story has been shaped by the Western Australian Presentation Sisters since 1891.
As delegates returned to their schools across Australia, they did so carrying a challenge at the heart of the Conference: to carry the light of Christ to all whom they encounter; to be the Presentation face of God’s mission and to recognise the gift of their Catholic Presentation education.
In doing so, the young people of the Presentation tradition are invited to become modern-day Carriers of the Lantern; lighting the way for others through faith, hope, courage and compassion.