The Herald

From the Principal

Reflecting on the 2024 Year

 

My first year was a year of significant, wide-reaching change and I sensed at the end of 2023 that the staff needed some type of assurance that it wasn't going to be another year of that. So this year I made a commitment to sit in some of the changes and spend time evaluating them.

 

It's been a very satisfying year to see some of the changes take hold, and to have the opportunity for mini course corrections. I'm proud of the way that teachers, and the staff in general, have embraced those changes, given feedback and given it a go.

 

I'm reminded that the leadership team is only one year old. Phill van Ryn joined us as Head of Primary School, Eliza Lovelock as Head of Student Support and Brad Robinson as Head of ICT, along with Liz Winter (HR), Graeme Smith (Finance) and Bonnie Armstrong (Secondary). This team has only been working together for 10 months. I'm really thankful for a group of leaders that has jumped in and embraced change and the priorities I've asked them to look at.

Flourishing Faithfully

Faithful and Flourishing was our theme for 2024. Our community has faced some significant personal difficulties this year with the loss of loved ones, and some challenging health situations. I've seen a tangible desire to see other people flourish, and a comprehensive approach to hurt. First, we pray with each other and for each other. Along with words of encouragement, the meals delivered and the shoulder to cry on, prayer is how I see this community taking time for each other. People genuinely care and they will down tools and prioritise people, and that's something that has helped our community be cohesive and caring.

Celebrating the Wins

I want to draw your attention to some significant highlights for the 2024 year, for which I'm incredibly thankful:

  • The development of the new Performing Arts and Reading Centre.
  • Continued enrolment interest. The hard work of our teachers and staff is creating a place where people want to bring their children.
  • The cohesion of the new leadership team.
  • The can-do attitude of people in the LCS community, and the vibrant, positive culture that creates.

From the Mouths of our Students

It's interesting for me to talk to the bookends of the school year. I've been invited into lower Primary School classes at the beginning of the year to read a book to students, and I see the enthusiasm and the joy of learning. It always fascinates me to go back into that class eight months later and see how much they've grown, how much more articulate they are in sharing their opinions or ideas, the way that the questions they ask are a little more nuanced, more thoughtful. It's a real joy to behold.

 

I also love to listen and sit with students who are graduating. The narratives they tell always start with the funny, 'Do you remember when...?' I love hearing that levity around their education. But very quickly the conversation turns to the impact that teachers have had on their lives, and their stories change to, 'I really appreciated when that teacher cared for me...' When our graduating Year 12 students or our leaving Year 10 students have that narrative, you start to realise that amazing work is being done in our classrooms, in our corridors, on our sports fields, in our playgrounds.

 

I've taken great delight in being invited into the school's celebrations over the past year, whether that's Book Week, the Lego exhibition, the lighthouse project on display in the library, the athletics carnival, watching students in a competitive sporting environment.

I'm always buoyed to observe the ambience of those environments; high participation, enthusiasm, good competitiveness, mutual encouragement and great collaborations.

 

I was asked to speak at our Student Leadership Council Retreat and I saw such a high, mature level of collaboration, of kids who wanted to learn how to grow in Christ and be more effective leaders. They were humble and vulnerable, asking, 'How can I serve my community better?' 

 

If this is the calibre of young people that LCS is sending into the world, we can be very pleased!

Building Progress

We are in negotiations with a building company and will be able to share information as soon as the contract has been confirmed. It's been an amazing collaborative process between our architects and the team here at LCS, including the building committee, the board, and the leadership team. 

 

I'm incredibly excited. Our school is set to benefit greatly from a new library in the centre of the school, new classrooms and a performing arts centre that incorporates a foyer and cafeteria.

Thank you!

I thank you for your trust and engagement this year. I see your volunteer hours and the spirit of generosity alive within the LCS community and am grateful. This year would not have been the positive step forward without your ongoing support.

 

In Christ,

Stuart Kent.

 

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
– Hebrews 13:15