Principal’s Message – Clonard College Geelong

Clonard College

Principal's Message

The Clonard College community acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we educate our students, the Wathaurong people of the Kulin nation. We honour and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. We commit ourselves to walk alongside all Aboriginal people in the quest for justice, reconciliation and recognition through the transforming power of education.

The educational experience at Clonard is more than an academic journey. It is an education that nurtures young women to embody our College motto ‘ strength and kindliness’. It is an education where the spirituality of our students is fostered. Our students’ strengths are known, cultivated and celebrated through a broad range of opportunities and extracurricular offerings.

Everybody is a somebody at Clonard. We place equal importance on care for students’ wellbeing and their academic learning success. A Clonard education gives our young women a sense of social justice and a voice to make a difference in the world. It is an education where the leaders of tomorrow are formed. It is an experience where friendships are formed for life.

Today, Clonard College educates 920 girls through offering an extensive range of excellent academic, cultural and sporting opportunities

Our dedicated staff encourage our students to become creative and confident future leaders, through a tradition of promoting academic success while nurturing a strong sense of social responsibility.

At the heart of our College community is a commitment to nurturing faith. As a Kildare Education Ministries School in the Brigidine Tradition, we continue the traditions of our founders, the Brigidine Sisters, by responding to the following values:

Wonder – Celebrating all that is good with joy and gratitude

Courage – Speaking and acting with integrity

Hospitality – Welcoming all

Hope – Bringing a sense of purpose

Compassion – Walking with and having empathy for all

Justice – Making the needs of the vulnerable paramount

As a Catholic College, our community is ever mindful that God is the focus of our being and our actions.

In our 65th year, we are exploring the Kildare Ministries value of ‘Wonder’. Throughout the year in College events, conversations, our classrooms and staff meetings, our prayer and rituals we will stop to ponder both the gifts and challenges this value brings to who we are and how we are as a College community. A dictionary definition of wonder uses words such as amazement, surprise, fascination, astonishment, or sometimes admiration. It may also be a point of questioning or curiosity or maybe even doubt. In our faith tradition, wonder is more, it’s about going beyond, being more than meets the eye, a moment of pause, a moment of transcendence. It is in these moments a trace of God is revealed to us. In these moments we are invited into God’s grace and desire for us to have a life of abundance, liberation, justice and peace. So often with the noise, screens and busyness that can define western culture we can forget to stop or miss moments of pause and wonder.

I trust that you will find this website useful as you endeavour to learn a little more about our College.

Luci Quinn
College Principal