Principal's Message Week 7 Term Two

I once made a cavalier statement that leadership in education is not rocket science. I have since realised that that was an erroneous statement to make. Perhaps it might just be as complex as rocket science.

We have all been to school. Therefore, everyone holds a fair understanding of what happens in schools. At least, what happened in schools when they were there! It also occurs to me that the understanding people hold about schooling comes from the perspective of being a student, and by virtue of this fact, through the lens of a child and adolescent. For those who do not work in a school, knowing what takes place in a contemporary context, I would suggest may just be a vastly different proposition.

Schools are wonderful, dynamic, living communities. They are a melting pot and meeting place, filled with people from different backgrounds, holding a variety of views, experiences, and priorities. Our school is no exception here. In fact, what makes our place so special is that we proudly proclaim our sense of inclusivity – one of the four touchstones of an Edmund Rice school.

While we have all attended schooling of some sort, not all of us are educators. I have been to hospital, but only as a patient. I do not profess to be a medical expert!

The broader community, governments Federal and State, and various interest groups all exert influence on schools. First and foremost, our schools are places of teaching and learning. We teach and engage students in progressing what they understand, know, and can do. Equally importantly, in our Catholic context, we have an obligation to the Church. We are part of the Catholic Church, and we commit to forming our young people in faith, inviting them into a relationship with Jesus.

Often, when an issue arises in society, the school is the place that is looked towards to “fix” it. If I think of bike safety, drug education, consent and respectful relationships education, driver education, financial literacy, environmental education, career planning, health and wellbeing, sex education, and many more – all of these impact on what we do, and what we offer. Of course, this is all in addition to meeting our legislated requirement under many pieces of legislation to which we must comply. After all of this, we must faithfully deliver the Australian curriculum.

If I add anything to the list of complexities that reside in our school communities, it is that we face an international shortage of teachers. This is particularly acute in Australia and shows no signs of abating anytime soon. For anyone who has toyed with the idea of teaching – now is the time. We need you, and so do our children! Increasingly we find it difficult in our nation to staff schools with appropriately qualified teachers. Education as a profession also continues to see declining number of men choosing the vocation of teaching. There are many schools now that have no males at all in them. This is not a value judgement, merely a statement of fact.

What we do to ensure our school remains a vibrant Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition is to continue to offer a high-quality agenda that meets the needs of boys and their families and is also a desirable place for staff to want to work. We need to be a school that listens, willingly accepts and acts on feedback, and simultaneously has the courage to trust the expertise of our staff. We must be nimble to societal shifts and responsive to change. We balance this with holding fast to our values, our Catholic tradition, and to having and enacting high expectations for all.

Our school is a complex organism, as all schools are. This does not prevent us from doing our best, every day. Our young men are at the heart of our every endeavour, and they are our sole reason for existence.

Our school is full of humans. It is our very humanity that we hope unites rather than divides us. While we are not perfect, we aim to be a little better every day.

Leading a school is both a profound privilege as well as an awesome responsibility. It also might just as complex as rocket science.

ATC Sport Update

As many will be aware, we have made application to the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) to become a full member school and enjoy all that membership of that Association would bring. This application was submitted by Chris Ryan at the end of last year. I would like to be transparent about where we are up to with respect to this matter.

I have been informed by the Management Committee of AIC, that they have set up a working group to consider our application. This working group has asked the College to respond to a number of questions, which we have done, and in due course, I expect that I will be requested to meet with them to make a presentation. The AIC will then come back to our College with an outcome of our application at some time in Term 3.

I appreciate the interest and desire of many of our families, and most importantly, our boys have in playing high quality, competitive sport, and enjoying the many benefits this brings. I am also keenly aware that our current situation, as a guest school, at times brings frustration and some challenges. Having said that, our Sport Department, most ably led by our Head of Sport Mr Lyndon Brieffies, goes to extraordinary lengths, in a very complex environment, to find games for our many teams each week. Our mission remains to provide enjoyable and authentic opportunities that facilitate life-long engagement in sport.

We appreciate your patience as we work through the process of joining the AIC. I commit to informing the community as soon as possible, once we have an outcome.

Dr Craig Wattam

College Principal