Principals Message

Dear Kildare Community,

After two weeks at the College I am pleased to share with you just how impressed I am with the school, particularly the friendliness of the students and the professionalism of the staff. Clearly, Kildare has a strong focus on providing quality learning and teaching. This is apparent to me in a variety of ways as I walk around the classrooms,  most notable being the commitment by teachers to the common Kildare teaching framework along with initiatives such as the Data Room, the emphasis on academic care (not only pastoral care), intervention, innovation and inclusion.

I am happy to be here and look forward to the semester ahead as we work together to move into the future. My thanks for the warm welcome.

Today, July 31st, is the feast day in the Catholic Church of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of The Society of Jesus religious order (The Jesuits). Ignatius lived in the 17th century in Spain and after a career as a soldier he turned to a very different vocation which saw him begin an order of priests who would be educators. Today Jesuits work all around the world continuing to be prominent in religious life and in education. Pope Francis was a Jesuit before he became Pope. St Ignatius is the patron saint of soldiers and educators.

We here at Kildare also have our own patrons, religious whose influence is at the heart of our identity and heritage. The spirit of both Venerable Nano Nagle and Blessed Edmund Rice permeates through Kildare and challenges us to remain fully committed to their respective charisms, thus ensuring Kildare is authentically Catholic in nature as well as name. May the spirit of Nano Nagle and the Spirit of Edmund Rice guide our efforts as we work to make Jesus known and loved in our Kildare community.

Congratulations to Bishop Mark Edwards on becoming the Bishop of our diocese. Bishop Mark is himself an educator and has held significant school leadership roles in a number of schools in Australia. On behalf of the Kildare community I want to assure Bishop Mark of our prayers and loyalty and look forward when the opportunity allows to welcome him to Kildare.