Welcome everyone to the 2021 Academic Year.
The start of the year certainly did not go the way we expected, and I would like to thank all our students and their families for their patience, understanding and flexibility in adapting to the changes.
I would like to welcome all our new students and their families into the La Salle community – the start of a life-long association which I’m confident will bring you wonderful and productive experiences with many fond memories in the future.
A new year always fills me with new hope for what can be created, learned and achieved. For many of us, it often comes after a ‘reset and relax’ period which provides us with a great foundation and a clear mind to take all our reflections and learnings from previous years and apply that to the present year to make it the best one yet.
My hope, as principal of La Salle College, is that our safe, Christ-centred and nurturing environment along with the authentic and relevant learning opportunities will enable our students to explore and fulfil their potential not just as learners but as individuals who make a positive difference to the lives of others in their families, community and world.
It is also my hope that we do this in partnership with you, the wonderful parents and guardians who have entrusted your children to our care, because bringing out the best in our students can only happen in partnership with you.
It is quite common to hear parents and guardians say “My child is in high school now, they don’t want me to be involved”. However, please be involved! It is only when we work together that we can achieve the best outcomes for our young people.
Effective communication between home and school is instrumental to achieving those outcomes. So please keep us informed, be informed and be active in your child’s education and encourage them to make the most of every opportunity that comes their way.
There will be many opportunities that will help your child explore and fulfil their potential and become life-long learners but as we know there will also be some challenges along the way. However, if we continue to work together and provide our students with support, encouragement, motivation and guidance along every step of the way, we will enable them to:
- Follow the lead of Christ and our patron, St John Baptist de la Salle to become caring, empathetic and inclusive members of our College and the wider community.
- Remember we are diverse but it is our inclusivity that makes us a strong and welcoming community and every member of the Lasallian community, including students, parents and staff, has a responsibility to maintain and build that inclusivity.
- Develop new, positive and respectful relationships with members of the school community which will support their growth as well-rounded young men and women and inspire them to keep making a positive difference to the world.
- Be courageous – step out of their comfort zone and try something new. If they fail, and they may, they need to be resilient and try again, as success may just be waiting around the corner.
- Strive for excellence, not only in their academic pursuits, but with everything they do in life.
One of the very few things that is constant is change and I’m looking forward to working with everyone – students, parents, staff and the wider community – to making 2021 a very happy, safe and productive year.
Ms Giovanna Fiume
