From the Principal

It has been a busy and very productive commencement to Term 3 for all staff and students.The first day of term saw staff gather for the launch of the Killester Inclusivity Statement. This was a wonderful day for us all, made even more special by the brave and thoughtful presentations from a number of our students. Our Inclusivity Statement talks of the core values of Killester and of course are based on our Kildare Education Ministries Values. We are incredibly proud of our cultural and religious identity here at Killester, there is a great deal to celebrate in this diversity. Our students challenged us on the day to reflect on the stories they told that demonstrated the challenges they have faced when their diversity had not been celebrated and, rather, they had faced discrimination and bigotry. One of the greatest challenges for us all now is to ensure that we create meaningful actions to try and negate these negative experiences. One of my favourite Gospel passages (found in both Mark and Matthew) is when Jesus loses his temper in the temple when he sees people disrespecting this sacred space. Like Jesus, we are called to challenge behaviour when we see behaviours of others that do not reflect our core beliefs. Our wonderful students have given us a number of different ways that they see us working together to challenge injustice- in our community and beyond. We are very excited to plan this work together.

Sadly we are seeing an increase in the number of COVID cases across our state and country, added to this are the complications of some nasty influenza viruses. We have spoken with our students about the ways they can continue to look after their own health and that of their families and our staff. We are actively encouraging all members of our community to wear masks when in close proximity to others and we have introduced a number of additional measures to aid in the prevention of transmission. The vast majority of our meetings will now be held online and, events such as the Year 10 Information evening last night, have also been moved to being online. We ask that all families keep a close eye on emails to ensure you are kept up to date with any changes to formatted events in the coming weeks. 

We welcomed back the staff and students who toured Central and Northern Australia over the holidays. By all accounts it was a marvellous journey and we are looking forward to hearing more about their adventures. Also over the holidays was our participation in the Victorian Netball Competition and a number of students attended school for our holiday program. These events were all possible with the generous contribution of time given by our staff. In particular I would like to thank Ms Loreto Cannon, Ms Maree Edwards, Ms Sam Campion, Ms Penny Curtis, Ms Jo Camelleri and Ms Emma Neville who were all instrumental in the organisation and running of these events. 

Term 3 promises to be busy for all year levels, with good preparation, we are also anticipating it being a successful and healthy one. 

Sally Buick

Principal