Principal's Report

Dear families,

I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to access some Long Service Leave  which allowed me to take time to reflect, renew and re-energise. Thank you everyone, this was very much appreciated. I am very grateful for the wonderful team here at St Brigid’s who all stepped up to allow me the time to take an extended break and a special thank you to Fiona Friberg for taking on the Acting Principal role in my absence.

For the first part of my leave, I attended the World EduLead conference in Singapore. The conference's theme was "An education revolution in the AI age". The keynote speakers highlighted how the landscape of education is rapidly changing and the consequential need for us to redefine what it means to be an educator in the 21st century.

Presenters shared we are at the basic "pong” level (referencing the first generation video game some of you may remember) - of artificial intelligence and that we are on the brink of an AI explosion, not just in education but throughout the world. Our students will be competing for jobs against those who are exposed to and experienced with AI. We want to educate our students to not have AI do the thinking for them, but to use AI to become better thinkers. Through teaching our students digital literacy we now need to include the skills to navigate AI environments and use AI tools responsibly and efficiently. The key takeaway from the conference is that AI will not be taking jobs, however people who know how to use AI will.

After the conference in Singapore, my wife Nerrida and I then headed to Greece and Turkey where St Paul the Apostle furthered early Christianity in Asia Minor. St Paul was a late convert to Christianity and as he spoke the language of international trade, Greek, he was instrumental in spreading the good news Christ brought. Greece became the gateway for Christianity’s spread to the rest of Europe, and we visited many of the places associated with his apostolic mission. However, our highlight was visiting the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey where St Paul preached to the Ephesians. From here, he wrote letters to Galatia, Philippi, and Corinth. We walked through the remains of the main Agora and Great Theatre, where St. Paul addressed the crowds (Acts 19:29), and the site of the riot from which Paul escaped.

We also visited the House of the Virgin Mary.  One of the Catholic traditions recalls that the Virgin Mary went to Ephesus and lived there for some time. The site was officially declared a shrine of the Roman Catholic Church in 1896, and has received three Papal visits, making it a sacred space for Christians and Muslims. Here we lit candles for our loved ones. After Ephesus we then went to the Greek island of Patmos and walked through the cave where St John lived in exile and wrote the Book of Revelations. We were also fortunate to visit other islands including Rhodes and Crete, including sightseeing and experience amazing travels through other areas in Turkey and Greece.

Our trip was a wonderful and spiritually fulfilling experience which we will always treasure. Again thank you to the St Brigid’s community in supporting the staff in my absence. 

This week we are celebrating Catholic Education Week with a special 150 anniversary of the establishment of the Ballarat Diocese. Today we are joined by the St Michael and John Catholic primary school for a joint liturgy and luncheon. This afternoon I will be accompanying the front office team to a mass and dinner in Ballarat as they have justifiably been nominated for the Spirit of Catholic Education Awards being held today.

I would also like to welcome to our school community this week Mr Paul Chiita (Maths teacher) and Ms Carol Case- Hassall (Learning Support Officer). In a time of skilled labour shortages, I am pleased that St Brigid’ remains a school of choice for our valued staff.

Monday is our Open Day where we proudly show off our wonderful school to the wider community. I ask that you promote this among your friends and family to maximise our exposure.

Have a great week and stay safe,

Gerard