Mr Brett Hartley
At the end of last term I shared in my newsletter article about some new teachers who will be joining us next term and I start my newsletter article for this week with some exciting news about our existing staff. Mrs Liz Arthur, a kindergarten teacher and our P-2 section coordinator, is expecting a baby fairly early in the new year. My PA, Mrs Ashleigh Sawley, is having a baby at roughly the same time. We wish God's blessing on Liz and her husband Brendon, one of our secondary TAS teachers, and similarly for Ashleigh and her husband Nathan.
I am currently considering suitable replacements for Liz while she is on maternity leave. I will be advertising Ashleigh’s maternity leave vacancy in coming weeks. If anyone in our school community is aware of people who would be interested in replacing Ashleigh, please encourage them to read the website for more information.
Our Head of English, Mrs Catherine McGovern, announced her retirement a while ago; however, applications are still open for someone to replace her from the beginning of the 2020 school year.
I think it's important for me to share information about members of our school community because a quality Christian education needs to have excellent relationships. Relationships where we genuinely care for each other by showing a polite and genuine interest in the lives of others, whether that be celebrating the impending birth of a child or mourning the passing of someone close to us. In that regard, our love and prayers extend to the family and friends of Peter Hazlewood, one of our fathers, who died recently in an accident. Along with many others, I went to Peter’s memorial service this week. It was a God honouring tribute to a man who gave so much of his own life to loving and caring for others.
Some may wonder why I am convicted that relationships are central to a quality education. In my view, if students have meaningful relationships with their teachers and each other and parents have a positive partnership with the school, students are much more likely to want to focus on their learning and achieve to the best of their ability. Of course this is not the only ingredient needed for students to learn and succeed academically – teachers need to know their content and know how to teach it effectively to children, schools need to be well structured and get details right. I could probably create a list stretching to several pages of factors that are important for a quality education; however, I'm sure you will agree that a Christian school needs a foundation based on the Scriptures where people genuinely love and support each other.
In relation to these other factors, a few days ago the NSW government released an extensive report reviewing the curriculum. I have started reading it and hope to share some of my thoughts in future newsletter articles.
As I close for this week, I would like to recognise our wonderful Year 12 students who are partway through their final exams. They have been a warm and diligent year group. I trust that God will give them the presence of mind to concentrate, interpret every question accurately and provide answers that reflect the extent of their knowledge, skills and hard work.
Mr Brett Hartley
Principal