From the Principal

An Interview with Mr Kent: reflecting back and looking to the future

You know, as I sit here I look back at my very first opportunity to stand up in front of the staff here at LCS in late January. And I think, you know, I was nervous. I was anxious and wanting to make a good first impression, but I also think I had a confidence of being in the position that God wanted me to be in. I received a very warm welcome from the wider teaching community and also the leadership team and I think that there was a real willingness to jump on board with some of my vision. So I think from the very outset, I set the theme for the year to be a united and connected community. And I suppose if I was to look back over the last, what, four and a half, five months? Are we a little more united maybe than we were at the start? I think the answer is yes. The devotions that we've been having as a staff on a Tuesday morning have revolved around those two words. Do I feel that I'm more connected to the community? Absolutely. It's been a privilege to get to know people. I told the board when I was appointed to this role that my first year is really about building relationships. How do you build what I call a trust bucket? How do you get the chance to tell your story? How do you seek understanding and ask questions before you make decisions?

I've had a chance to walk around the school on a regular basis, visit lots of classrooms. The junior school has been amazing in inviting me into their classrooms. And I think as a teacher with a background in history, I love telling story. So, I think one of the things I'm thankful for is the opportunity to tell my story and even more thankful that that's resonated with people. It's connected me a little bit more, but I also think that I've seen those connections amongst staff grow. We are post covid now, and we are enjoying social connection and personal connection. That's been a real positive for me, and I still think we've got work to do. I know the PiC is working really hard at building community. It's a real focus for them, and I am enjoying being a part of that vision. So looking back on it, did I have a chance to build some relationships? Yes. Have I really enjoyed getting to know people. Yes. Has my time with the students been a highlight? Yes. Chance to tell my story? Yes. And then I think, have we met some of those thematic goals? Are we, are we more united around what we're trying to do, how we're going to do it? There is a level of excitement around what the future holds, and I'm really privileged and humbled to continue to be a part of that.

I think in my role, I'm always looking to the future. Whether that be tomorrow or big picture planning. It's one of the things that I actually love about this job is that you, you live and operate and work in the immediate future and in the long distance future. And it was made very clear to me by the board when I was appointed to this role that they were going to ask me to look at a restructuring of the leadership - how we actually set up our school, and also to have a look at the school's strategic plan. One's immediate and will be coming into effect in 2024. That's the restructuring. 

It's been a real privilege and an opportunity for me as a new principal to think through and plan, and then deliver a new leadership structure to the school. And I've shared that with the staff. I haven't had a chance to share it with students yet, but that's coming. But this is an opportunity to begin to share with parents that we’ve brought some clarity to some of the operational parts of the school and who will be responsible for different things.

Graeme Smith will continue in his role in finances, Liz Winter in her role around operation and finances, and Rob Morgan in teaching and learning. We have also asked Brad Robinson, our ICT director, to come on board to the leadership team. I am absolutely convinced that digital learning and navigating the digital world is an absolutely vital skill for our school students. A lot of decisions we make around education and operations involve some type of digital world.

The biggest change is combination of considering student support and wellbeing, and a new vision of the secondary school. Currently we have a middle school and we have a senior school. In my observations some year levels are lost in that structure. And my desire is to create a single secondary school from years seven to twelve with a head, so we will be having one head of secondary school in 2024. I think everyone would say that our students are experiencing more and more challenges around social, emotional wellbeing, and mental health - how do we meet the needs of students in a really comprehensive, aligned way. So, a new role that is currently being advertised is the Head of Student Support. And that really looks at our wellbeing unit, our ESU unit, and EALD. We support students at lots of different levels, and I hope that this new role will bring a new vision for how we can support kids and their challenges. I really enjoyed that work, and I feel its met with the staff in a positive way, so this is an opportunity to let the parents know that next year we will be having a Head of Student Support but also a single Head of Secondary School.