Principal’s Blog

The best thing about being a teacher is that it matters. The hardest thing about being a teacher is that it matters every day!

Today in Australia we celebrate World Teachers Day. It is a day to reflect with gratitude on the dedication, commitment and tireless work of our teachers. We asked some of our students what they wanted to acknowledge and they shared the following:

Thank you so much for your hard work, we love how you have time to have fun with us.

Thank you for coming to school each day with a smile on your face.

I’m grateful for how the teachers help us when we need extra help and how they are just always there.

We appreciate the hard work teachers put in for us and for how they guide us through our learning.

I’m thankful for our teachers because our teachers know what they are doing.

The teachers at Clonard are really inclusive and they really try and help you.

The teachers always try to make the lessons fun and not boring.

Thank you teachers for caring about our health and wellbeing.

Thank you teachers for always supporting us with our learning even when we find it challenging.

Thank you for making Year 7 so special.

Thank you for being so patient with us and putting us before yourselves by being there for us.

Thanks for always being available.

The role of teacher is to shape the future. Teachers in a Catholic school do this through the lens of the gospel. It is a task with enormous responsibility and yet so often it is undervalued. To be a great teacher is not just about having content knowledge, it is about building relationships, crafting learning design to meet the diverse range of learners, holding young people in safe spaces as they grow and mature. Our teachers do this with professional, passion and great heart, and for that we are grateful.

VCE exams commenced this week with a very calm start to the English exam and very positive feedback from students at the conclusion, sharing how they felt prepared and able to put their best efforts forward. Exams continue now until 16 November and will be followed by the Year 12 Celebration Evening on 18 November. We encourage our Year 12 students to continue to access the expertise of their teachers as they prepare for upcoming exams.

We continue to hold the flood effected communities of Victoria in our prayers, especially their Year 12 students as they navigate this most difficult time. We have been in regular contact with one of our Kildare Education Ministries schools, St Joseph’s College in Echuca, offering our support.

The extended weekend will come at a welcome time for many as an opportunity for a reset as we head towards the final half of Term 4. Monday is a pupil free day and is taken in lieu of a range of online compliance tasks that are required to be completed as part of our regulatory requirements. These training tasks include Mandatory Reporting and Child Safety, Asthma and Anaphylaxis training, OH&S, Privacy, Cybersecurity, Student Duty of Care and Modern Slavery.

There are a number of opportunities for our families to connect with the College over the coming weeks. I strongly encourage you to consider where you might be able to join us to connect with our community and learn about some of our initiatives. These include:

  • Wednesday 2 November 6.30pm: The Positive Behaviour for Learning Parent Night
  • Thursday 3 and Tuesday 22 November 5.00pm: Student Music Performances
  • Thursday 10 November 6.30pm: Our Year 7 2023 Information Night for families and students
  • Thursday 24 November 6.30pm: Celebration of Achievement Awards Evening:
  • Thursday 8 December 9.30am: End of Year Mass/Tullow Gift and House Choir

Please keep your eye out for the relevant information around these specific events. We look forward to joining you at these occasions.

As we start to look ahead to 2023 we draw energy from Pope Francis’ invitation to young people around the world ahead of World Youth Day in Lisbon. He is reminding us of the example of Mary who was one who always looked outwards and went to serve others. He says to our youth

‘Dear young people, now is the time to set out in haste towards concrete encounters, towards genuine acceptance of those different from ourselves. This was the case with the young Mary and the elderly Elizabeth.  Only thus will we bridge distances – between generations, social classes, ethnic and other groups – and even put an end to wars. Young people always represent the hope for new unity within our fragmented and divided human family.’

What a wonderful reminder of the power of our young people as agents of hope in our world.

Blessings

Luci