Principal's Report

Farewell Year 12

On Thursday 24 September we celebrated the Year 12 graduation. This most important event on our school calendar marks one of the last formal occasions that our Year 12 students will be together as a year group; as such it is seen as a rite of passage. As I take this opportunity to congratulate Year 12 on not only this significant achievement, but on the successful completion of 13 years of schooling. As we farewell our graduating class of 2020 I’d like to share some extracts from my speech at this week’s Graduation Ceremony;

Congratulations Year 12. Your graduation is the end of one of the most significant journeys of your life and it is the beginning of the unknown journey of your future.

This year – your HSC year – has been marred by a global event beyond our control. A virus that you, as well as anyone, understand the enormity of. You know the effect that 2020 has had on your preparation for the HSC. You know how this experience has denied you things you looked forward to, and it has challenged you emotionally and academically. But through it you are stronger and more resilient. 

At the start of anything we use our imaginations to conjure up an image of what the goal or the ending will look like. And then comes a year that just disrupts every hope and dream imaginable. You have had such a year. Some of your dreams and visions have been diminished by a virus, something unseeable to the human eye but felt in the depths of our humanity worldwide. Bushfires launched us on a trajectory of uncertainty and a virus propelled us into an abyss we are still in.  As I contemplated what I would say to you in my graduation speech and here in my Yearbook message, the last four lines of a poem by John Davidson that reminded me of the importance of imagination in these times;

Imagination, new and strange

In every age, can turn the year,

Can shift the poles and lightly change

The mood of men, the world’s career. 

In all our situations, whether they have been at school, at home, with family and with friends the mood of us all has changed. Our visions, hopes and dreams had to change and from personal experience sometimes I had to change the running of a whole school in a matter of seconds. While the world changed we had to imagine new ways of living and for every school we had to think of new ways of connecting and educating you all. Behind the scenes it has been exhausting. All of us have had to reimagine how we would go about things in new and innovative ways. But how could any of us have adapted to this without our imaginations? Humans are supposed to adapt and all of you in your personal lives and schooling lives have spent almost a year adapting to catastrophe and confusion and, Corona.

But let’s just take a moment to journey back before Covid when as little kids you walked through our gates 6 years ago. You knew some people that have gone on to graduate with you and you embraced more people into your friendship groups, and I hope you have made some lifelong friends. What you probably didn’t know was that through those years you would be supported by teachers who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes and beside you when guidance and support were needed. Always remember them.   

Every single one of us will tell our own stories of this time and this is how I want you all to begin your stories – ‘I did my HSC during Corona virus’ and then acknowledge that you stuck with it regardless, you submitted the work regardless, you hugged and counselled each other regardless and you graduated from Henry Kendall High School, regardless of a virus that disrupted the world. If you don’t think that is an achievement in itself then nothing is! Never forget that, because an inner strength will come from this and it will be an inner strength that you will call upon time and time again as you greet the unknown challenges of tomorrow. 

I would like to sincerely thank those of you who had the imagination to adapt but who seemed to have been born with an inner strength that has led us through this. While Covid dominated our news and screens, I suddenly found myself navigating the challenge of leading and managing a school where the buildings were empty. Where classrooms were virtual and interactions were distant. Imagination was key to adapting to this and I suddenly stopped thinking about this whole thing as a burden but a challenge. I went from resenting all the changes and just embraced them as one more thing to do in my day. Suddenly being creative became essential in every way. And I’m telling you this because I want you to do the same. See everything as a challenge, know that you will always have to adapt and when imagination kicks in there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

On behalf of the staff at Henry Kendall I wish each and every one of you a life where you seek out challenges, where courage becomes your best friend. Believe in your intelligence on the journey towards the HSC and beyond. Promise me that you’ll draw upon imagination instead of doubt to create a life for yourselves that you can say is yours and yours alone. If you take one thing with you from all of this it has to be that you did the HSC when it seemed like the world was falling apart around you, you committed to your studies and you became role models for every other year group in this school. You should feel nothing but pride for yourselves because we at Henry Kendall High, and your families at home, nothing but admiration for you. 

Good luck Year 12.

Student Leaders Investiture

Our 2021 School Leaders Investiture was held on Wednesday 9 September. This was an occasion for the school community to induct and celebrate our elected School Captains, Vice Captains, Prefects and Student Representative Council. 

We are again fortunate in the calibre, integrity, motivation and character of our student leaders, as we have been in throughout 2020. 

I would like to acknowledge our school leaders of 2020, and in particular our Captains - Holly and Oliver; Vice Captains – Siobhan and Harrison; and Prefects Joshua, Angel, Priyansh and Tom. The school leadership team of the past twelve months have been outstanding ambassadors for not only the student body, but for Henry Kendall High School. I thank you for your dedication, your integrity and your humour as a group of people. You have had a tangible influence on our school culture, always providing a positive and proactive outlook, and it has been a privilege to work with you. 

I congratulate our student leaders elect for 2021; Captains - Imogen and Brandon; Vice Captains – Caitlyn and Clare; and Prefects Charlotte, Eloise, Bridie and David. You will make an outstanding leadership contribution, and each of you have been elected to these important positions because you have the potential, traits and abilities that your peers and the staff have recognised in you. Your contribution over the next twelve months will be rewarding on many levels. 

SAS Staff Recognition Week

School Administrative and Support Staff Recognition Week was 24 – 28 August 2020. The school community is made up of a lot of different people, all of whom play a part in the running of schools and the provision of quality education to students. 

School Administrative and Support Staff, whether they work in the office, the library, on the school grounds or in a classroom setting, are important contributors to the success of the school and students’ education. SAS Staff Recognition Week is an opportunity for the school community to acknowledge the vital role and contribution that SAS Staff play in public education, and to the culture and success of Henry Kendall High School. 

Our learning community recognises this contribution and thanks our SAS Staff for all they do.

Thank You to our P&C

Our P&C is made up of a small but committed group of parents, and I’d like to take this opportunity to recognise and thank them for several recent thoughtful gestures. 

Our P&C recognise the difficulties our Year 12  students have faced in 2020, as well as some disappointment that include being unable to hold the formal that they had planned at Crown Plaza. To ease this in some small way the P&C are subsidising the cost of each student’s ticket by $10 a head, a wonderful and significant gesture for our graduating class.

The other generous and thoughtful gesture was to provide the staff with a morning tea on Friday 18 September as a way of saying thank you for the efforts and resilience this year in difficult circumstances. This morning tea was sincerely appreciated (and enjoyed) by the staff, and coincided with our VISTAS exhibition making it a very special occasion.

Sometimes it is the little acts

 that mean the most. Thank you.

Mr Andrew Backhouse

Principal