Principal's Report

On Sunday 5th May, the holy month of Ramadhan started in Australia. For Muslims around the globe Ramadhan is a time of contemplation, self-reflection, devotion and being grateful for the blessing that have been given.  It is also a time when Muslims practice the values of generosity and togetherness, fasting from dawn to sunset as a way of remembering their social responsibility to look after community members who are in need and to better contribute to society.  It was in this light that I received a precious and humble invitation in my pigeon hole a couple of weeks ago – to the local Iftar feast for the Warrnambool Islamic Society.  I get invited to a number of events throughout the year and inevitably I need to prioritise which ones I can get to and which ones I need to pass along an apology to.  I had no hesitation in accepting this gracious invitation.

There are many ways in which a community can choose to respond to a tragedy that has been forced upon them by other members of the human race.  Some choose a path of anger and retribution, justifying their actions and feelings on the basis of the what has been done to them.  I suspect there’s a part of our genetic makeup that is naturally inclined to react in this way of retaliation.  So, after the events of Christchurch, it was a humbling experience to be invited into the intimacy of the local Islamic prayer room to share in their breaking of the daily fast of Ramadhan.  Being open to other’s entering into your spaces, places and times of vulnerability takes enormous courage and it has opened my eyes to the generosity of a marginalised group within our Warrnambool community.  A group that genuinely wants to reach their arms outwards and express love rather than hatred after such a dastardly act in the Mosques of Christchurch.  I remain in awe of such a response and reflect upon how my own generosity of spirit measures up.  We have much to learn from this simple act of invitation within our community of Warrnambool College.

One way in which we have made tentative acts towards inclusion and shared understanding is our annual recognition of IDAHOBIT day – the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia.  Today, as all days, we fly the rainbow flag at Warrnambool College with pride.  It seems our regional community of Warrnambool has come a long way in a short period of time in recognising our need to explicitly welcome and include members of the LGBTI community.  Over the course of this week, our tutorial times have allowed students to reflect upon why days like IDAHOBIT are so important in celebrating the diversity of humanity and enjoying what we share in common – a love of life and all the joys that it can bring.

Today we also celebrated and recognised all that our Education Support (ES) staff offer to the learning fabric of Warrnambool College.  I want to publicly thank the tireless efforts that our ES staff put into creating such wonderful learning experiences for our students, each and every day.  Much of their work is behind the scenes and is done humbly to enable everyone else to be at their best.  There is obviously the risk that this work goes unnoticed, but I can assure everyone that this school would cease to operate in any meaningful way if not for every ES staff’s members constant contributions.

I hope that you may find a moment in the next week to celebrate the achievements of someone you work and learn alongside, or invite someone to share in something precious and special to you, or lift someone up who may feel marginalised and in need of support.  It’s these small gestures of positivity that help to build up our Warrnambool College community and make this region such an amazing place to live in.

Kind Regards,

Dave Clift

Principal