Alleluia! Alleluia!

Welcome back to Term 2. As we commence our term we are basking in the joy of the resurrection. The Easter season is six weeks in the liturgical calendar and is marked by the gospel stories of the risen Jesus appearing to his followers. He comes to them in the ordinariness of their lives, travelling, cooking, gathering together as they grieve what they thought was the loss of their leader and friend. In each encounter Jesus does not judge his friends on their fear or abandonment of him. Jesus brings a sense of peace, of invitation, of reassurance to their doubts and questions. This is the hope of the resurrection that faith can be found where there is doubt and uncertainty. The world we live in today is certainly marked by uncertainty. This uncertainty can lead to the polarizing of opinion as we search for a way to make sense of what is happening.

What Jesus is offering in the resurrection is an anchor for uncertain times. Our faith can be something that whilst we might still question can bring us back to a centre point. In the resurrection gospels Jesus appearances were witness to the good news he had preached during his time on earth. People of faith can be witnesses to others. Witness draws us back to the anchor of our faith, to what is good and right and true. Witness is all around us if we open our hearts and eyes to receive it. That to me is the invitation and call of this Easter season to find the risen Jesus present among us in my day to day routine. A reminder that God so loved the world he gave his only Son.

Strategy – One Pace Beyond Term 2

As the Extended Leadership team gathered this week we celebrated the achievements and milestones of the first term and discussed the term ahead in light of our strategic intentions. Our Annual action plan for 2026 with the key strategies can be found here.

A high level summary of our strategy for Term 2 is included below:

• Our Literacy and Numeracy interventions to address gaps in learning for our Junior students commence this week. (Bravely Ambitious)
• The work of our Year 10 teams to incorporate New Metrics competencies across all subjects is well underway. Year 10 staff will complete their first Ruby report later in the term. (Bravely Ambitous)
• Circle pedagogy is being more broadly implemented across wellbeing classes and modelled in staff team meetings. (Intentionally Connected)
• The Tier 1 trauma informed strategies and executive function strategies have been mapped to our Learning and Instructional Model as staff continue to build their awareness of how these strategies will support and enable learners to access the curriculum. (Intentionally Connected)
• Our Justice staff and student leaders have been creative in developing a comprehensive system of partnership with Wellsprings for Women and expanded opportunities for students to engage in justice based activities. (Thriving Change agents)
• Student leaders are also leading the way with developing AI awareness programs to support their fellow students to understand the safe and ethical use of AI. (Thriving Change agents)

Athletics Carnival

Thanks to all staff and our House leaders for a wonderful day on Tuesday. The weather was superb and students are to be commended for the manner in which they negotiated the adjusted facilities with the major works currently being undertaken at Landy Field. We had large numbers of students participate on the day, all giving their best effort and enthusiasm!

Enrolment reminder

A gentle reminder that Enrolments close on 8 May which is just over 2 weeks away. Families who may have siblings enrolling are reminded to complete their applications by this date. Thank you to those who have already submitted applications.

Compass – live in 63 days

On Monday 22 June we will go live with Compass as our new School information system. Staff will commence training in Week 5 of this term. The first modules that will be covered are attendance, medical and chronicle (students notes, behaviour, wellbeing). As we get closer to the ‘go live’ date we will provide parents with workshop opportunities to learn how to use this new system. Stay tuned.

This term promises to be filled with opportunities for community connection with our

• ANZAC Day commemoration 24 April
• Annual Mother’s Day breakfast 5 May in Tullow Hall
• First Nations families evening 6 May at Booln Booln
• Kildare Ministries National First Nations immersion 13/14 May
• Senior Years Subject Expo 18 May in the Brigidine Centre and Kildare Theatre
• Parent Teacher interviews 26 May (onsite) and 4 June (online)
• Along with Year 12 retreat, Year 9 Beach Bush and City and Year 10 camp to Anglesea.

We look forward to engaging with our community at these events as we continue to celebrate 70 years of education at Clonard College.

Blessings for the term ahead.