Welcome back to Kildare for the 2021 college year. Whilst we still have the ever present restrictions of Covid 19 at least we aren't starting our year exhausted after a spate of bush fires as we had last year.

I’m very excited to have the privilege of leading, with the wonderful team we have here, such a vibrant community that we have here at Kildare Catholic College. Its been a busy time since I started on 17th January and the staff and students have been very generous and welcoming to me along with the support and welcome from our Bishop Mark Edwards OMI and our Catholic Education Director Liz O’Carrigan OAM.

I’ve experienced blessings and inductions both at the CEDWW office and here at Kildare and many have reached out to me wishing me well including the Presentation Sisters, the Christian Brothers and many former colleagues across diocesan and congregational schools. I’ve also met a number of parents who have wished me well too. I feel a very profound sense of gratitude for this support and look forward to the year ahead to live out our diocese theme for 2021 of Joy and Hope.

We started our year offering our hopes and dreams to the Lord’s intercession in mass and prayer led by Fr Paddy Sykes, our inspiring and supportive chaplain. We thank him for the gift he is to this community.

In doing so I’d like to note my profound thanks for the fine work of Christie Scoble, Val Thomas and Rick Sidorko in leading the college through the uniquely challenging times of 2019/20 that would test any school to its limits. The college is in remarkably good shape and the staff and students are looking forward to a wonderful year ahead.

On Tuesday we celebrated our High Achievers Assembly, celebrating the great successes of 2020. There were many excellent achievements individually by students but what stood out for me was the outstanding learning growth the college achieves year after year. Having worked in metropolitan and regional Catholic schools, diocesan and congregational I bring hopefully an informed perspective on this.

By any measure , in any part of NSW, this sort of growth is impressive. It points to many years of work in the school, building a learning culture. Such work takes up to a decade to achieve and should reassure all our community in the school and prospective families that Kildare delivers for its young people more than most schools can. My commitment is to work with our team of staff to ensure we sustain that excellence and grow it further to meet emerging needs.

I’d like to pass on in summary the remarks I have made formally to staff and students at the start of the 2021 college year:

We are a Catholic school with a tradition inspired by the Presentation Sisters and the Christian Brothers. I want us to be a great catholic school. We all have a part in that.
Kildare has a fine tradition around learning with terrific outcomes and an inspired staff who are at the cutting edge of what makes good teaching and learning. We need to look to the reality that in 2026 this new Year 7 will graduate into a significantly different world than we see today. Covid is already accelerating that change. We need to prepare and transform for that.
Wellbeing for Learning is for me a critical component we need to address as the highest priority. Our young people can only learn if they are ready to and supported to. Please be reassured of my strong commitment to this.
Jesus said to his disciples which we can find in the Gospel of Luke “to whom much has been given much is expected”. So to Year 12 we look to you to lead our college and that includes in our faith. With 30 weeks to go we have much to do together.
My theme for all this year is ‘respect’ as the foundation of how we come together living out Christ’s commandment. I look forward to seeing you live that out every day. Respect builds trust in our community and we are closer, more inclusive and more cohesive as a result.
Set goals for your learning and for you as a person this year. Your homegroup coach will work with you along with your family to see these can be achieved to be the best person you can be as God intended.

I look forward to engaging with you all as the year progresses and the ever present reality of Covid 19 allows. I look forward also to your feedback and support so that we can make this wonderful Catholic college even more successful for the community we serve.

Council OfCatholic School Parents

Council Of
Catholic School Parents