From the Principal

Dear Families of Killester,

In our first newsletter for the year I would like  introduce our Kildare Ministries Theme for the Year : Compassion - Moving to Action

Unpacking this theme with our staff and students we initially looked at the dictionary meaning. 

Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” 

Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.  The gospel story we are focusing on for our opening mass is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus offers this story to respond when asked to the question, “Who is my neighbour?”

After receiving a severe beating at the hands of robbers, a Jewish man, for dead. Ignored by two fellow Jews passing by, a Samaritan, considered unclean and the enemy of Jewish people showed real compassion. Look below at the action he takes.

“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal,  brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’

This extravagant show of generosity was a great example that compassion should have no religious or cultural boundaries. We will explore what this means for staff and students as the year progresses.

On our First day back at our school assembly we congratulated and presented all of our high achievers with certificates acknowledging those who scored over 40 for their individual subject and over 90 for their ATAR.

The first four weeks of school has been designated as a period of rapid antigen testing and mask wearing along with several protocols we have shared with  you. So far the numbers of infections and students missing school have been quite small. We thank you for following the regime of tests and good hygiene. Hopefully in four weeks the protocols will be relaxed even further but we are still weeks away and must remain vigilant. The next batch of RA tests have arrived and will be given out Monday.

Friday sees us walking to the Noble Park pool for our annual swimming sports. This is always a great event and we look forward to sharing some photos in our next newsletter. 

We wish to particularly welcome all new staff and students to Killester. We have a great bunch of enthusiastic newbies and hope they feel  at home here. The following are the names of the new staff.

Abdul Rahim  - Commerce, Maths

Alison Pickard - Senior Programs Leader

Chrys Xindaras - Library Technician

Elizabeth  O’Gorman - generalist teacher

Emily Maguire - Informed and Purposeful Leader

Gabby Camp - AFL trainee PE

Georgia Hill - English, Psychology, Wonder

Jac Jarvis - IT support

Joanna Wallace - Library Technician

Kimberley Nguyen - Learning Support Officer

Kristine Evans - English Leader

Lucinda Nolan - Senior Strategy Leader

Manelle Karaan - generalist teacher

Melissa Fernando - English, Drama

Penny Power - Student Counselor

Rebecca Liu - Accounts receivable

Samantha Powell - Psychology, Science, Maths

Tracey Scott - Teacher Librarian

Zakki Husaini - Maths, Science Wonder

Hopefully, numbers for staff and students remain low and we remain safe. We wish you all the best for the start of the year and pray that some sort of normality returns.

Yours Faithfully

Peter O’Neill

Acting Principal