From the Principal

Dear families of Killester,

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses…to the end of the earth.” Acts 1, 1-11

“Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce God’s good news to one and all.”          Mark 16, 15-20

This weekend marks the celebration of the Ascension and is regarded as one of the major days for celebration in our Christian tradition. Prior to the Ascension, Jesus spent forty days teaching the disciples so they could go out into the world and take the good news to all. Jesus' teachings during his life on earth, and following his resurrection at Easter focused on love, mercy and reconciliation. The Ascension is significant in our liturgical calendar as we are called to remember that when Jesus departed earth in his human form, he took his human nature to heaven, thereby ensuring the connection between God and humanity. We are reminded that God intensely desires fellowship with us and calls us to be his witnesses on earth. This work has always been incredibly important and remains so today when our world is in need of such healing. This week at Killester we continue to pray for all impacted by the ravaging's of the coronavirus. Below is an invitation to all in our community to a mass that will be held at the College on June 2 with special intentions for those impacted by Covid and in particular for those with family in India and surrounding nations who are experiencing such tragedy at this time. 

This morning was a hive of activity very early at the College. Many students stepped onto buses for the journey to the inter-school SCSA Athletics Carnival at Albert Park, we wish them all the best today and hope they are able to be proud of the work they have done in preparing for this great competition. Many others gathered to head off to the music camp in Warburton, whilst others were having a lovely breakfast cooked by Mr Pearce and Mr O'Neill after participating in the sleep out designed to highlight the plight of the homeless. It was so wonderful to see the huge array of opportunities our students are afforded at Killester and I thank very much the staff who give their time so generously to enable these events to take place.  

NAPLAN commenced this week and as usual our students participated enthusiastically and did their very best. We took time to remind our students that the NAPLAN is simply a moment in time that is one set of data to help us to determine how we can better assist the learning of our students. Our Reach program, that was designed to assist students who had been negatively impacted by the disruption to learning in 2020, commenced this term and is well underway. The College has employed eight tutors who are working with individuals and small groups of students to bridge any gaps that were the result of 2020, the program has been very warmly received by staff and students and will continue until the end of this year. 

Other events this week have included the Empower Me Program with Year 7 students, the continuation of the St Joseph's Tutoring program, where our students help Primary School students after school with their homework, VCAL participation in their RSA and Food Safety training, the debating team competing against Haileybury, wonderful victories in the basketball and badminton against Kilbreda on Wednesday, student volunteers working with Joey's Van to help feed the homeless, aged appropriate year level Child Safe presentations that ensure students at Killester are aware of their rights when it comes to speaking out against issues that impact their safety and wellbeing....and the list goes on. The students at Killester are incredibly lucky to have a dedicated, committed and innovative staff who work tirelessly to give them so many different learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom. 

Sally Buick

Principal