By Mrs Liisa Hammond, Principal

Gospel Luke 6: 39-45

A person speaks from what is in their heart.

In this week’s Gospel, Luke synthesises three of Jesus’s teachings to shine a light on how we influence each other. Luke emphasises the importance of recognising that both our words and our actions have an impact and that we are responsible for that impact no matter what our intentions may be. Jesus explores the importance of being self-aware and having integrity through his metaphor of a tree. Jesus explains that a good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. This metaphor highlights the importance of aligning our inner character with our actions, demonstrating that true integrity involves consistency between what we believe and how we behave.

We are urged to consider the fact that before we can help others or make judgments about others, first we must look at ourselves. We must strive to be fair and just in our actions by recognising the flaws within ourselves, so that we can better serve others, creating a more just community.

Luke’s Gospel challenges us to reflect on our own lives and strive to embody the values of Justice, Wisdom, Generosity and Compassion. By doing so, we can enliven our motto of Truth and Love, creating a community where everyone is valued and supported. Embracing these teachings will foster a culture of mutual respect and understanding, where our actions consistently reflect our commitment to Truth and Love.

Term 1 2025 TCS Leadership Forum – You are Salt of the Earth and Light to the World

This term, the TCS Leadership forum ran for three days, making available the option of attending Andy Hargreaves Leadership Workshop.

The Forum began with Spiritual Formation, which allowed for spiritual reflection utilising the Beatitudes as Kevin Treston interpreted in his book, Choices for Life – The Beatitudes for Daily Living.

Dr Pat Coughlan’s Keynote Address explored the metaphors of salt and light, drawing upon each to challenge us to think about and position ourselves within the principles of Christian living and leadership through our work. Pat reiterated our core and essential mission of helping young people learn how to negotiate a meaningful life through the challenging maze that is our contemporary culture.

Furthermore, Pat explored ideas generated from Malcolm Gladwell’s text, Revenge of the Tipping Point (2025), including the question of how we can start our own epidemic, for educational advancement, utilising the qualities of Messenger (super spreader), Message (stickiness factors), and Environment (power of context). The potential to harness the knowledge garnered from the global pandemic is an interesting proposition especially when we utilize this knowledge for a positive educational outcome.

Further topics discussed and examined, at the Forum, included:

• The Talent Acquisition approach to recruitment

• Education Services update – including the key initiatives and programs for 2025, including the continued professional development of staff in Subject Discipline Literacies (SDL), Multi-Tiered Systems Support, and the new Teaching and Learning Framework

• Continuation of the Financial Literacy bites with a focus on capital expenditure budgets as well as updates on Finance, Infrastructure and Information Services, including the pending 2027 opening of the 33rd school within the Toowoomba Diocese – St Francis Catholic College, Westbrook, and a deep dive into the 2024 budget review and audit process

• An update on the Payroll Transformation Project

• An exploration into the Leadership Mindset, include how to effectively switch from System 1 to System 2 brain.

During the Forum, we had the opportunity to say farewell to Julie Payne, Director: Finance, Infrastructure and Information Services. As she is taking up another position in Toowoomba, I would like to acknowledge and thank Julie for her work and support. We wish Julie all the best in her new role and are confident that she will continue to excel and inspire others.

Andy Hargreaves – Leadership Workshop

On Friday, 28 February 2025, together with 11 other leaders from TCS and approximately 50 other school leaders from around the state, I travelled to Brisbane to engage in a Masterclass for Principals and School Leaders, led by the world-renowned education expert, Andy Hargreaves. The theme of the workshop was – Bringing People Back In: Turning Our Schools into Places Where Students and Teachers Thrive and Want to Be, Every Day.

The Topics covered were:

Innovation, Inclusion and Engagement

Engagement is key to achievement. In this session, Andy shared insights from his recent project with the LEGO Foundation, addressing the five enemies of pupil engagement —such as top-down standardisation, irrelevant curriculum, and excessive testing. He presented innovative designs and principles to ensure all students were engaged and excited about learning.

From Safety to Thriving

Andy surmised that the wellbeing agenda has often focused too much on individualistic solutions like self-care and mindfulness, so he discussed the importance of institutional changes that can significantly enhance wellbeing. This included more autonomy in learning and teaching, deeper collaboration beyond data teams and learning sprints, innovative projects with real-world impact, outdoor learning in nature, fewer bureaucratic restrictions, less obsession with testing, and more freedom for school-led curriculum projects and the transformative use of AI.

Extreme Weather Warnings

As a community, we value the safety of our families and staff. We are committed to ensuring our families are always informed and prepared for any potential disruptions to our College’s operations. Please ensure you follow our social media posts for updates or breaking information. We will also inform you via text messages, and for longer messages we will email you.

Many thanks and please stay safe!

May our Mother Mary grant her blessings upon our College Community.