Today we came together as a College community for our Opening Mass. Our theme was Hopeful Hearts, where we celebrated and reflected on our Core Value of Hope. Fr John, our Parish Priest, led us in this Eucharistic Celebration and reminded us that hope is what guides our aspirations, dreams and goals, and in the Catholic Church, faith adds another dimension to hope, as the two virtues are interrelated. Our staff were also Commissioned during the Mass, making a commitment to the students, that they will wholeheartedly share their gifts to enrich the lives of our students, guided by the stories of St Brigid and Nano Nagle.
We were grateful to have Kathy McEvoy, Co-chair of the Trustees of Kildare Ministries, Jo Coonan, Chair of the Stewardship Council and Maria D’Aloia, Deputy Chair of the Stewardship Council join us for this special celebration. We also welcomed Year 7 families who celebrated their first Mass with us and our Year 7 students, who received a gift, welcoming them to our College Community. It was a special occasion also for our Class of 2024 who received their ‘Senior’ badges, marking the beginning of their final year of school. We would also like to thank our College Captains and some of the Year 11 Peer Support Leaders who assisted in leading this celebration, their leadership surely gives us hope for a fruitful year ahead. With hope in our hearts, so many possibilities and opportunities await all of us.
At Kildare each student is known, valued and cared for which is vital to their wellbeing.
To develop a richer understanding of our students, at the beginning of the year, students completed a questionnaire. This addressed matters such as their strengths, their hopes, their concerns and gave an opportunity for students to reach out to specialist staff such as counsellors from the very beginning of the year. Completed by the majority of the student body, the responses clearly indicated that the vast majority of respondents was really happy and excited to return to school and ready to learn, which was wonderful to see. The responses also gave us an insight into how best to address students’ indicated needs.
As a direct result of this collection of student voice, a number of workshops is now scheduled to occur. A session called Tiny Habits is being developed by counsellors and Learning Enrichment staff, to focus on positive steps we can all take to proactively address stress and anxiety. This will be shared first with students in Years 10 and 12. There will also be a series of workshops for Year 7 students which will pick up where the Peer Support program leaves off at the end of Semester 1, with a focus on socio-emotional learning. A number of other workshops are currently being discerned for other year levels.
Opportunities for student voice and leadership abound at Kildare College. In the coming weeks International Women’s Day and Harmony Day will be additional options. Year 7 camps, Mentor programs and Peer Support programs are other incredible opportunities to nurture these important skills. Students also have many opportunities to get involved in extra curricular activities to encourage exploring aspirations and social connections.
While parenting can bring us many joys, it can also be challenging. Families recently received some information about some webinars from Wellio Education that may be of interest which include:
- Managing Stress and Anxiety(14 March),
- Phones and Social Media (14 May),
- Building Healthy Relationships (29 August),
- Resilience and Setbacks (31 October).
To register for any or all, please follow this link to parent webinars.
As a community, we value working in partnership with families. As always, please be in touch should you have any concerns. Your child’s Pastoral Care Teacher is your best first point of contact should you have any queries.
Wishing you well for the remainder of the term,
Tonia Carfora
Director of Pastoral Care
We recently held our annual Kildare Clubs Expo. This was an opportunity for students to see what Clubs are on offer, and to ask questions about them. As usual, some clubs were very popular and filled up quickly.
The Clubs are an important part of life at Kildare College. Like sporting teams or other groups, the Clubs help to provide an opportunity for students to engage with their friends or meet new people and develop connections and social interactions with others who share their interests. The Clubs also help to provide students with different opportunities where they can learn new skills, experience personal growth, and participate in activities which are fun and give them life. They can also contribute to a sense of belonging.
We encourage all students to get involved in some extra-curricular activity and we encourage conversations at home about getting involved. If a student has not quite decided what they would like to do, it is never too late to join up, or join throughout the year. Students will just need to contact the staff member who oversee that club for details. If they are not sure who to ask, they are encouraged to chat to their Pastoral Care Teacher, who can point them in the right direction.
