Principal's Message

Dear Friends & Family,

It’s certainly been an adventurous year with many twists and turns in our community. This week we have celebrated the success of our students who demonstrated hard work, determination, organization, and often resilience because everyone in this community was faced with challenges this year.  Whether it was family or friend relationships, school or work stress, poor physical or mental health or we were supporting someone who is significant to us in one of these areas – we were challenged.

I would love to be able to tell you that next year will be different, it will all be smooth sailing and perfect weather. Unfortunately, I can’t even guarantee what will happen tomorrow. We live in uncertain times and the situations we encounter will either make us stronger or break us. I think as a community this year we have become stronger. We’ve done a better job of keeping each other safe and supported – we’ve listened to each other, we’ve taken opportunities to repair any harm that we caused, and we’ve come together time and time again when we needed to. We are stronger, we are building something significant within ourselves and our community. 

It's also that time of the year when we farewell some staff, students and families, and while I am sad to see them go, I’m also grateful for the time we had with them as part of our community. I’ve learned over many years that “see you later” is more appropriate than “goodbye” when it comes to people in Central Australia. I hope to see some of these people return to the fold in the future. I’m also confident that their connection to St Philip’s will remain strong even as they move on to other schools.

It's been a great pleasure to lead the school this year and there are many things to look forward to in 2024. I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, and may you enjoy this special time with your friends and family.

Kind regards,

~ Leslie Tilbrook

Principal