Principal Message

We come to the end of a very busy term in the life of Kildare. I am very conscious of the incredible generosity of our staff who have supported our students through 250 lessons of learning this term, at least 25 hours of coaching and wellbeing time along with many more hours of support around sport, cultural and other co-curricular pursuits.

Many staff have given up important family time to support their students after hours online and we know that many staff will be continuing to support their Year 12 students right through the holidays as they prepare for their HSC examinations in October.

On your behalf I thank the staff for their incredible commitment to our students and their commitment to their students' growth and pursuit of personal excellence encompassing each and every student. I pray they have a restful and energising break. They have certainly deserved it.

I have returned from a wonderful break including six weeks across Ireland and Scotland allowing my wife and I the opportunity to explore family heritage but writ large is the heritage of this college through the combined traditions of Nano Nagle and Edmund Rice that has spread throughout the world and is enshrined in places such as Cork and Waterford in Ireland.  As I reminded the students on Monday we carry forward their example of care and service.

 Upon returning last week I was very conscious of the great work done over the eight weeks I was on leave by Mrs Christie Scutti as Acting Principal, Mr Kieran Udy as Acting Assistant Principal and Mr David Chaston as Acting Leader of Mission and Formation. I am very grateful for the fine leadership they showed and I know they are better leaders for the experience. Good leaders are lifelong learners.

Year 12 are finishing up formal lessons this week and we have had a number of farewell activities and presentations with much recognition for the very significant contribution this year group has made to the life of the college. They move on to prepare for their HSC and we look forward to further celebrations with them at their formal on 18th November. This year 12 have been an extraordinary group who have been a fine example to the rest of the college community. We wish them all every success.

Please see the list of Year 12 award winners on the next page of this newsletter. or go HERE

This term has seen amazing success for our students in sport, cultural and academic endeavours. Our hockey teams were finalists locally, our senior rugby league and Tournament of the Minds teams both made finals in Sydney. The latter two had a wonderful experience not only participating in such high level competition but also immersing themselves in activities around the competition which enhanced the experience. As I reminded our students this week they need to remember that they can achieve whatever they want with few barriers. Students from Kildare can go anywhere and achieve great success in any field of endeavour if they put their mind to achieving their chosen goals. The last term on so many fronts is testament to this.

With so much going on in the College we are more and more shifting communication to Compass, email, and social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Further we are launching a new website hopefully in Term 4. As a consequence we are pulling back a little to three newsletters per term starting next term. We need all parents to engage with Compass and email which is how we communicate directly with you.  Staff at the college are very happy to assist with helping you engage with these platforms.

As we head into holidays can I please reiterate a few points. 

• School resumes for all students on Monday 9th October, 2023. There is no staff development day on this day. All students Years 7-11 are expected at school that day.
• All students are required to be in the correct uniform on the correct days. Please see the uniform policy here
• The Uniform shop is open during the holidays Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 7.30-11.30 am. Parking in Kildare or Coleman street.
• Please ensure all hair and grooming requirements are attended to before 9th October to avoid difficult conversations. Many students were looking like they needed a bit of attention in this area. Understandable with holidays approaching but returning that way would not be acceptable.

We need parent support in this as part of our partnership with you.  

Best wishes for the holiday break and we look forward to all our students safely returning to school on 9th October.

To view a higher-quality photo click on below link: