The return of our students to face-to-face learning this week has been a gentle reminder of the human element of teaching and schools. The smiles on faces, sounds of laughter and the ‘in between moments’ have been recaptured this week, with the essential need for human connection with friends and teachers clearly visible. Undoubtedly, attending the school campus plays a vital role in every community by forming the structure of the week, shaping the values of our next generation and enabling a wellbeing check with our youth across the globe.

While some children may be excited, others may be more worried. Some may feel a mix of emotions. And just like returning to school after the long summer break (possibly the most comparable event through a child’s eyes), many of these feelings are normal. A special superpower of schools is their ability to pivot to normality quickly. St Catherine’s offers a predictable and familiar place of routine and clear expectations. Teachers can harness this predictability. Their roles as stable and familiar people to children can be hugely important for transition and adjustment.

Whilst temperature screening occurs at the front gate in our ‘new’ normal, the attention of the Wellbeing Team at St Catherine’s remains on a ‘temperature check’ of another kind. What is the emotional health of our VCE cohort who are rapidly adjusting to being back on campus following significant changes to their study and assessment programs causing a heightened level of stress and disruption to their year? How did the children in our Early Learning Centre and Barbreck resettle into their learning environments this week? Many children have adjusted well to the routines, some have enjoyed extra time spent at home and the opportunity to have their four-legged friend sitting beside them as they participated in our Learn@Home program. Navigating such transitions with our young people are complex and require considerable care and nurturing.

Whilst every school across the globe grapples with the return to campus under strict new COVID-19 guidelines, questions are surfacing about what the pandemic has revealed about the value of school in society and what may need to continue to change. What does this moment tell us about what sort of society we want to create, and how do schools fit into that?

My hope is that we will come out of this more strongly demonstrating that it is the ‘human stuff’ that matters in education – the relationships, the socialisation of young people, the sense of the older generation preparing the next generation to take their place.

Community Connections

To ensure an important connection with our St Catherine’s community is maintained this term, the School has hosted two key online events. The Gratitude Lunch on Friday 8 May was scheduled just prior to Mother’s Day and served as an opportunity to extend our appreciation and thanks to the special women in our lives – mums, grandmas, aunts, teachers and treasured friends.

In lieu of our biennial Father-Daughter Dinner, unfortunately cancelled in May owing to COVID-19, we welcomed an event specifically targeting the Dads in our School community on Thursday evening of this week. We were excited to host some of Australia’s great sporting legends, who are also St Catherine’s Dads: Lleyton Hewitt, Luke Darcy, Andrew Demetriou, Michael Christian and Christopher Tarrant.

The role a father can play in raising resilient daughters but also in supporting and influencing their daughter’s sporting pursuits is significant. Sport can teach us a lot about life, about perseverance, integrity and responsibility, and fathers play a special role as they encourage and share in their daughters’ journey. A strong bond can develop as they participate, encourage and cheer them on. I have seen many St Catherine’s fathers beaming with pride and joy as they cheer on their daughters from the sidelines. There is an unexpected joy in becoming a role model in their daughter’s sporting participation. Through sport, fathers can influence their daughters’ lives beyond these pursuits and form meaningful bonds lasting a lifetime.

Commentators, Michael Christian and Luke Darcy led a lively conversation about our sporting dads’ careers, discussing: Lleyton Hewitt’s experiences winning Wimbledon and his career rivalry with Roger Federer, Andrew Demetriou’s challenge of brokering multi-million dollar media deals between Packer and Murdoch as the then CEO of the AFL, which changed broadcasting and media rights for sport in Australia and set the game up for financial success, and Chris Tarrant’s great story selecting AFL, over Basketball and then being drafted to Collingwood as young school boy, interestingly the day before he sat his Year 11 English exam. Luke’s early confidence as a young boy is captured in a school time capsule which predicted a career playing footy.

I particularly enjoyed seeing each daughter happily sitting next to their Dad, and whilst in the eyes of many they are sporting legends, for these girls they are humble Dads, doing what Dads do – embarrassing them, supporting from the sideline and encouraging them in their own endeavours and interests.

Our community members are able to watch the replay of this unique and special dads and daughter’s event.

We are delighted the broader School Community can share in these experiences by watching at a later time. They provide the opportunity to enrich our ongoing community connections and engagement during this period of limitations.

I look forward to seeing the girls continue to walk through the School Gates and I await the return of all students so that I can welcome them back to our School over the coming weeks.