Thank you to our families who returned this year and welcome to those who have newly joined us in 2025.  It is hard to believe we are at the halfway mark of Term 1.  Yet when I reflect on the last five weeks, I understand why it has seemed to have raced by.

As a school we have welcomed 160 Year 7 students, 40 additional new students across the other year levels as well as 15 new teachers and ancillary staff, increasing the overall school population by approximately another 90 people.  This is a huge accomplishment and testament to the good work of our staff in the classrooms and our students as ambassadors in the community.

We have had the Swimming Carnival, Student Leaders Badge Ceremony, Year 7 'Meet and Greet', and Year 7 Camp.

Thank you to our parents who have already been in attendance or involved in the Term 1 events.  I look forward to seeing more of you across the year. In amongst these big-ticket items, we have practiced lock-downs and fire drills, are gearing up for our first parent forum for the year and of course launched into teaching our students across their classes.

Year 11 students are certainly at a stage where they can notice the increase in rigour needed to be successful in both the ATAR and vocational pathways.  Year 12 students are completing Internal Assessment, while both year 11 and 12 students are gearing up for block exams later this term.  and/or heading into the exam block next week hoping to be adequately prepared and achieving their best possible results as they too see how quickly this year is going by.

Each term our House Coordinators and key staff plan activities of a cultural, sporting, community or charitable nature.  These activities are designed to increase each student’s awareness of global perspective, local issues, or their engagement in school life.  Recently the Senior Leaders, with the support of the Junior Leaders and House Leaders, facilitated a very successful Valentine’s Day event.  The level of commitment required, and the time taken was extensive and it was great to see this teamwork culminate to ensure they met the demands of the event.

I know the coming weeks will see many more Clontarf events and I look forward to these activities working to continue to foster the community spirit of the Clontarf students and how our House Leaders, Junior Leaders and Senior Leaders evolve in their leadership journey over the course of the year. 

I am looking forward to us “Making the Difference: through an interactive and connected year.

Cath

Cath Pfingst

Principal