FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Term 2 - Week 9

Arriving back to St Nicholas on Monday morning brought great excitement. After six weeks on secondment at the Catholic Schools Office I missed the community we have developed at St Nicholas. We are so very fortunate at St Nicholas with what we have built and we should never take this for granted.

In returning it was a pleasure to be greeted by happy children who are committed to becoming the very best versions of themselves. It was a pleasure to be welcomed back by parents who are committed to supporting their child’s education. It was also a pleasure to be reconnected with professional staff who are dedicated to improving the faith, learning and wellbeing outcomes of our students.

An enormous thank you to Renee Dunst and the St Nicholas Leadership team who accepted new responsibilities, roles and challenges in my absence. As Principal of St Nicholas I am so very fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful people who are of high capacity.

During my secondment I had the opportunity to visit and support seven schools in our Diocese. It was inspiring to witness first hand a true “system of schools”. A system that is committed to sustain school improvement founded on shared beliefs and practices. At each school I saw snippets of St Nicholas with common language and common practices being implemented and embedded.

While each of our schools are at a different point in their journey, each with its own complexities, St Nicholas and the Armidale system of schools are in a very good place!

With only a week to the holidays I encourage our school community to ‘hold the course’ and commit to presenting the best version of themselves until a well deserved semester break at the conclusion of Friday's athletics carnival.

Have a great week

John Clery

Principal