This week the principals from across the Townsville Diocese gathered for meetings and presentations. One presentation focused on the strategic directions for the Catholic Education Office over the next five years. Part of the presentation included reflecting on the needs of our students and school communities.

Looking forward is key for any organisation, it is however, not always easy to predict the next five years. Many of us would not have predicted the current pandemic. So while we don’t know what the future holds we can still plan.

Last year, many families benefited from the sharing of our school resources - the chromebooks. Having purchased four hundred brand new laptops for our students, it required quite a leap of faith to distribute these to families during Remote Home Learning. I was particularly grateful to our families that these devices were looked after and returned, ready for ongoing use. Little did we know at the time of purchase that these devices would head into the homes of our families. Providing these devices meant more children could access the curriculum at home and parents weren’t burdened with the cost of a laptop! 

At this week’s School Board Meeting, our Board Members too, had the opportunity to provide feedback on future strategic directions for Townsville Catholic Education. 

The School Board discussion centred on the following: 

What will our school community look like in five years?

What will be the future needs of our students and our staff?

What does Townsville Catholic Education need to do as a system to meet future challenges?

Key areas of feedback included: Student and staff wellbeing; support staff to meet the learning needs of students; professional learning for staff to become proficient with the changes in technology and support from allied health professionals just to name a few. 

 Our school, too, is planning for the next five years. In future newsletters I will share with you some areas of improvement over the past five years. Some reflection helps us to look forward to planning for our school.

On a personal note, I would also like to inform you that after completing more than twenty enjoyable years in school administration at Holy Spirit, and almost eight of those years as principal, I will be retiring at the end of this year. A letter has been attached for your perusal.

God bless,

Geraldine