DEPUTY PRINCIPAL REPORT

With 2020 Vision Comes New Insights

It is that time again when we begin to reflect on what we have achieved as individuals and as a college from this year. It has been said ad nauseum, 2020 will definitely go down as one of the strange, tragic, scary, unnatural years of our time. A worldwide pandemic turned our lives on their head in March as we tried to come to grips with where things may be up to next week, let alone by the end of the year. And yet, with an outstanding sense of community and purpose Australia and Australians have mostly managed to avoid the worst…and yes I touch talisman wood as I type… 

Amidst this, and following the horror Summer, our students should be immensely proud of all they have achieved. To our parents who endured all of this and the spectre of being a teacher as well, I say thanks for all you do. In a regular year being a parent is hard enough, amidst the minutiae of lunches, uniforms and home learning. This year you have had to guide your child through the much tougher realms of uncertainty, isolation and mortality. Your support of our online learning program was such that most of our students emerged from lockdown with their learning minimally effected and a new range of learning tools at their disposal. To our Year 7 students I particularly say well done! The transition into secondary school is a daunting one, but when you have to come for several weeks and then remain home before returning again…well it doesn’t get much tougher than that. 

There have undoubtedly been silver linings. Parents, teachers and students learnt a great deal more about each other, ironically whilst at a distance, as online learning and connecting became the norm. Parent, teacher, student conferences became something that could be undertaken with a cup of tea from your lounge room, and Google classroom became a place in which I hope most parents now feel comfortable. 

Finally, to our magnificent staff, I say thank you. Your resilience, care and dedication has been nothing short of heroic. I truly believe ours is a noble profession and 2020 has proven the degree to which that is unquestionably true. 

To all our families, I hope you have a restful festive season in which you get to see long missed loved ones and are allowed the opportunity to reflect on a remarkable year. I have no doubt 2021 will have its’ own challenges; we now know just how resilient we are to face them and emerge, if not unscathed, at least wiser and sturdier around our relationships and our learning. 

Merry Christmas to The Riverina Anglican College community!      

Anthony Heffer | Deputy Principal - Teaching, Learning and Innovation