Principal's Report 

This week we celebrated Reconciliation week, which was beautifully highlighted by our Liturgy and assembly. 

We honoured our First Nations peoples - the oldest continuing culture in human history. We are in a position to truly build better relationships and real recognition. Relationships of respect, of resolve and of responsibility, recognition that honours the history and culture of First Nations people. This is about new patterns of behaviour, new understandings and attitudes of warmth and love.

It is only then that the colour of my skin, your skin, our skin, will matter less because the colours of our heart will matter much more. Because they are colours of peace, of harmony, of love, of healing and of a shared determination to do better and be better.

Congratulations to Mr Tim Campbell who has accepted a senior leadership role in another Catholic college. We wish Tim well as he explores leadership in a different setting and we thank him for the important work he has invested in the project management of our new Campus. One of our long standing staff members, Ruth McLaughlin will be taking some well deserved long service leave. We will also have some other staff take long service leave or explore other areas of the workforce. 

The teacher shortage across the whole of Australia is receiving much media attention and while we are continuing to manage this ever changing situation well, there is not doubt it is contributing to a greater level of pressure on our staff. Teacher absences due to illness creates different challenges for students, but our staff are extremely committed to doing the very best they can. This naturally creates changes to the timetable with students having new or different teachers for subjects. I ask that if your child has a different teacher due to some internal changes that you support the teacher in the first instance by acknowledging that we are still providing an excellent learning program. It is so important for us all to be working in partnership to constantly improve positive engagement and experiences for our whole community.

We have also undergone our whole school review this week, with four external assessors looking at learning and teaching, learning enhancement and student wellbeing. The National School Improvement Tool (NSIT) review will provide us with some clear guidelines and direction as we move forward to a multi campus College. We are looking forward to receiving the full report in the coming weeks.

The winter chill can sometimes influence the mood, but we remain focused on the challenges and opportunities ahead and look forward to the excitement building around our new Kildare Campus.

God Bless.

Anne Marie Cairns

Principal